


The Silence

by Aki_The_Shiftless



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Genius!Reader, Mild Language, Other, Reader-Insert, Verbally Mute! Reader, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 10:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 63,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8745883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aki_The_Shiftless/pseuds/Aki_The_Shiftless
Summary: You were a new student at Domino High and Kaiba fully expected to find you as intolerable as the rest of the student body. Though you were making it fairly hard for him to do so.





	1. The First Day's Silence, the Second Speaks Volumes

**Author's Note:**

> A new story, and I really wanted to try a mute reader for a reader insert. I've been rolling the idea around my noggin' for a while.

Chapter 1, The The First Day's Silence, the Second Speaks Volumes 

* * *

 

At first, Kaiba was glaring daggers at you as the teacher had placed you in the usually empty seat next to his.

Instead of the usual greetings he had been expecting, you had tilted your head at him in acknowledgment before sitting down next to him. Silent as you fetched a notebook and quietly began answering the questions on the board.

He should have been satisfied with that, almost glad that you weren't initiating contact with him. However.

He watched as you quickly jotted down the answers to the problems with speed and ease, never using the calculator you had set aside on your desk. He would have passed it off as well, except that this was the highest class of mathematics Domino High offered.

He went back to his own book, the problems long done, and ignored you for the rest of the period.

Then you showed up again, this time in his English class. Redundant, as his job required him to have a more than passible grasp of English. Once again, you were seated next to him, much to the annoyance of several of the female members within the class. Again, you acknowledge him, then moved to your seat.

At the moment, the class was taking a test on the English language. He had expected you to just sit, doing nothing as the rest of the class went through the test. However, you received the paper like anyone else.

You looked almost bored as you scanned through the test and jotted down your answer. When you were done, you flipped your paper over and pulled out a novel.

The book looked well read. The edges of the cover were revealing it's paper core as you flipped through the pages. Your eyes sweeping left to right across the page before turning, then flipping again.

He went back to his test, trying to ignore the fact that you had been reading a novel that was clearly written in English.

When the bell rang, it was time for lunch. He didn't bother bumping elbows with the rest of his classmates as they pushed each other forward for lunch. Preferring to wait until the crowd was gone before he walked over to his usual spot in the library.

He found he wasn't the only one.

You sat patiently as the last of the students went out the door, your messenger bag slung over your shoulder before standing up. You turned to him again, tilting your head, then walked out the door.

When he went to the library, you were in his seat.

His annoyance peaked, he walked over armed with a glare as he stood before you.

"You're in my seat."

At first, you hadn't responded, and he was about to demand you to get the hell out of his seat before your neck suddenly snapped to him. Blinking in surprise as if you had barely registered his presence, or perhaps that was exactly what you had done. You grabbed your stuff from the table and quickly moved. Exactly one chair over.

It wasn't exactly what he had been expected, but it seems you weren't going to even bother to make conversation. You hadn't even noticed his presence till you had finished a page of that book of yours.

He pulled his computer to get some work done, forgetting your presence for the time being.

There was a person hovering by the table.

Kaiba's eyes snapped toward him as he seemed to be sweating. You were frowning at him, your pointer finger firmly grasping the page you had been reading as you were looking at him.

"I-I um, I j-just thought that you m-might, um," Kaiba's annoyance was steadily rising as whoever this person was just didn't spit it out.

"Get lost," Kaiba growled. From the way your head had went back on itself slightly, as well as how your head tilted, it was clear that you were confused. Not from his attitude, as you hadn't even glanced his way, but clearly from whoever this boy was and what he wanted.

He watched in mild satisfaction as the boy practically sprinted from the library. You had turned to him, your mouth open before you shut it closed again with an audible click. Turning your head forward and frowning in confusion before shaking your head and turning back to your book. Clearly, your goal hadn't been to use him for driving anyone away if it seemed you weren't even aware of what was going on.

Lunch went on, not a word from both of you.

When lunch ended, you had gathered your things and went to your next class. Leaving behind a piece of paper as you pushed in your seat and walked.

With narrow eyes, he opened the folded piece of paper. In a messy script handwriting, it read:

Thank you

Confusion set in before promptly crushing the note within his grasp. You had nothing to be thankful for, he got rid of an annoyance. From the looks of things, you hadn't even known what was going on.

He sighed and threw the note in his bag.

A few minutes after the last of the classes ended, he found you quickly turning the knob on your locker. Right under his.

By the time he had walked over, you had managed to open your locker and quickly placed the books in your hand into your locker. Shutting it closed.

"Move."

Your head and eyes snapped over to his before you tilted your head in acknowledgement. Shutting the locker door with a slight nudge of your arm and snapping the lock shut. Your head bowed again before turning around and walking out to the gates.

He watched you disappear into the hall before opening his own locker.

~

The next day, it was the same. You walked into class, gave him a nod, then sat down without a word. Fetching your pencil, flipping to the next set of homework and notching down the answers.

That is, until your name was called to answer the board.

You stood, walking forward, grabbing the marker from the teacher and quickly jotting down the answer. Unfortunately, this was one of the math teachers that expected the work to most problems. When you were informed of this, he saw your eyebrows scrunch in mild confusion. Before turning back to the board and writing it out in a short matter of a few minutes.

Your handwriting was disgusting. However, you weren't wrong. You had even performed a shortcut far shorter than that of what the teacher had taught. After boxing your answer, you went back to your seat and continued answering the questions to tonight's homework. The teacher seemed miffed but shook his head and explained what you had done.

Your head was kept down, focused on finishing the work for the rest of the class.

In English you had done the same thing, nodding to him before sitting down.

Then there was a girl standing near you.

"Excuse me? Can you move?"

It seemed that you had seen her move towards you and had already been frowning at her in confusion. Kaiba instantly recognized her as one of his supposed "fangirls" that sadly littered the school. Your head tilted in her direction, your nose scrunching up slightly in your frown.

"I want to sit here, move," The girl said, more forceful this time around.

Your lips tilted down, as if you were saying, Why? Without actually saying anything.

He was about to tell the girl to get lost before he saw your lips start to quiver. Your upturned mouth began to become more and more like a pout. Your eyes, already wide, began to water. There was a small whimper that he could tell came from you only because he watched as your throat begin vibrate.

He about to yell at the both of you because of the girl's disturbance and your annoying whimpering when the girl suddenly let out a rush of words.

"Oh my gosh I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that really, it's okay, you can keep the seat," The girl began to rub your back as your head tilted downward slightly, your hair falling forward and obscuring most of your face. Your shoulders shaking. She began to shush you, your whimpers catching the attention of the rest of the lingering students who began throwing accusing looks to the girl.

"I'm um, I'm going to go now okay? It's okay, you can keep the seat."

 

As she left, Kaiba watched as a small smirk formed on your lips before you covered it with your sleeve. Wiping away the salty drops that had fallen while you sniffed. Passing students came by your seat as the free period had started coming to an end, muttering words of comfort as they gently pat your back. He himself suppressed the sudden idiotic urge to yell at them to leave you alone.

By the time the teacher came in, your eyes had dried, free of the red tinge from before as you worked on the given assignment. Looking as if the incident had never occurred while you worked in silence as you always did.

By the time the lunch bell rang, it seemed the incident been forgotten by most. When the girl from before was about to go, she casted a dirty look over to you.

You once again looked at her with a frown on your face, your eyes showing a surprising amount of genuine fear. Causing the girl to panic and promptly turn around, and walk out. He saw you smirk fully before wiping the smile off your face. Nodding to him in greeting before walking out yourself.

He wasn't sure what to think of that, but he was grudgingly impressed.

As he went to the library, he once again saw you on his table, except it seemed you had learned and took the seat next to his. The only difference was you had a laptop of your own, typing furiously on the lighted keyboard. Your eye was twitching, and your mouth was almost pulled into a scowl.

He sat down, and without a word you nudged your laptop more over to the side to make room for Kaiba. Moving your chair over by a large amount before you settled again. Your eyes glaring at the screen.

You’re irritation was starting to irritate _him_ , "What?"

You're eyes shifted to him, promptly turning your laptop for his viewing. It seems you were working on a History essay, but some boy that was in your class seemed to be constantly pestering you with advances.

You abruptly shifted the laptop back to yourself, furiously typing on the keyboard.

"If you're so bothered why bother being online," He said, narrowing his eyes at you, because for some reason your irritation was starting to become infectious. Your scowl putting him in a bad mood even if it had no reason to.

You turned to him, mouthing a word before turning back to the laptop.

Partner.

Of course, that was why you were so irritated. Apparently the incompetent fool was supposed to be helping. Clearly he wasn't.

It didn't look like you needed help either, as you seemed to have multiple tabs on your laptop and books opened next to you.

He turned to his own, barely pulling out his own laptop. Your problems weren't his, and you had no business bringing it to someone else.

Even if you hadn't really brought anyone into it in the first place.

Minutes of furious typing past before you finally clicked and shut your laptop closed with a satisfied sigh. It seemed you were finally done with the paper and was satisfied enough that you had pulled out your book and continued reading.

Kaiba moved to his own book, ignoring you for the most of lunch.

As Kaiba made his way to the locker, the rest of the school out for the day, he saw you looking irritated in front of the locker.

Your arms were crossed, your nose was scrunched high and bared your teeth in anger. There was a looming boy who seemed to not want to take “no” for an answer.

Kaiba’s own anger sparked as he moved to tell (the both of you, he tells himself) to get the hell out of his way when you did something unexpected.

It seems whatever the stupid fool had said pushed you over the edge as you walked his head with a book and proceeded to swiftly kick him in his crotch. A growl snapping through the air that clearly came from you.

You grabbed the front of his shirt tucked your book in between your knees. Using your now free hand to grab him by the nape of his neck.

The boy seemed to gag from the pressure you putting on the back of his neck and it seemed you were satisfied as you released him. Shoving him forward with a swift shove with your foot.

The boy got the message and ran for it.

There was another, but brief, growl before you huffed and closed the locker as you seemed to had left it open before the fool’s approach.

You turned your head and caught his eye, blinking before bowing your head and swiftly moving away from the locker. Picking up your items you seemed to have set down and walking in the direction of the exit.

He shook his head, approaching his locker and shoving the books in.

Looking down, it seemed you had dropped something. A lead pencil, and an expensive one, as it had some weight to it and the clip of the barrel had an etch.

He sighed and threw it in his bag, he had a meeting to get to.

 

 


	2. The Third Brings Unexpected Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the days continue, and our two main characters learn more about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back folks~

Chapter 2, The Third Brings Unexpected Meetings

* * *

 

 You opened the door to your house with a click and a held breath. Opening the white door to the sound of…nothing.

You breathed out a sigh of relief.

You trudged across the pristine white marble floors. Walking up to the first room at the end of the hall. Taps echoing with every step you make.

You opened the door, and the tension left your shoulders and you smiled.

As you walked through the door, closing the room with a satisfying _clap._

As you walked in, you took your laptop out of your bag before chucking it half way across the room, collapsing into the nearby leather wheel chair.

You walked yourself up to your desk before placing the laptop gently upon the pristine black table before popping your knuckles with a smile.

* * *

 

You waved at the driver slowly as she backed away, pausing briefly to wave back before driving off. You sighed, turning around and continuing your walk to the school of Domino High.

Coming to school had been a good and bad decision on your part. On one side, “homework”(which was class work really) was tedious to an unnecessary amount. Especially when you could have just as easily finished your education at an online program. Not to mention the _people. Ugh._

Not that all people were…terrible- but _people._ When not in direct interaction with people, they were fine. Heck- some of them were downright awesome. You just hadn’t had that opportunity for that for you yet. _Yet._ Being the key word. Teachers were just fine, but they just didn’t seem to understand the fact that you were _mute_ and not _deaf._ You could understand people just fine, you could even speak _and_ read sign; in _both_ ASL and JSL. Heck, you could write and read in _Brail._ But a blind you were not, nor deaf for that matter. You could read lips too, don’t think you didn’t catch the two teachers who were discussing their pity for your situation.

Honestly, it just made you salty and upset.

On the other hand, it gave you a few hours of true respite from the quiet prison called _home._ Granted, were you given freedom and probably able to go to a coffee shop? Sure. But not for a few hours at a time. At that point, you were pretty sure you would drive yourself to that hellish state of pure boredom. School provided a distraction, and perhaps a little bit of exposure to the outside world. You would have never had that in a coffee shop where what you did would probably prove to be distracting.

Still, out of all the years, you decided to attend school, you questioned your sanity why you thought _High School_ was a good idea.

First was that girl you frankly, annoyed you. You didn’t see why you had to move, it was a _seat,_ not a dinner affair. Clearly, there were seats she could occupy. Thus, you manipulated your way out of a situation and perhaps a major confrontation. It had always come easily to manipulate your way out of (and at times, into) situations. Your psychologist had given you plenty of practice with that. Eh, your first twenty anyway. The twenty-first one was proving to be interestingly far more skeptical than the last twenty, and frankly, you weren’t sure if it was a good thing or not.

Then there was Seto Kaiba.

Oh Seto Kaiba, how he had made your brain so damn _confused._

In all your time on the internet, there was no other celebrity that you had run across with as many fan blogs as you had with Seto Kaiba. Frankly, you didn’t think much about it until you started checking on it out of curiosity.

The fanfiction was frankly…amusing. Not to mention works of art “My Favorite Things” by a clever writer named SoundofSaphire made you _cry._  As well as forlorntimekeeper’s “Calling out the Conceited”. Just- it was hard work and _art_ at its finest. So many emotions created by just simple words on text. The feeling of your gut wrenching from the sheer _image_ conjured by simple letters forming a situation and an environment where you could see every character’s words and movements as clearly as you would in real life. It was the very definition of what a _good_ piece of literature was.

Also the art. By art you mean fan art because _holy crap._ Slowly you were sucked in and had to remind yourself on the _daily_ that Seto Kaiba fictional and Seto Kaiba actual were not the same thing. It was difficult but you managed it…somehow.

Then you started going to the same _school_ as said man.

At first, you resolved that you were going to treat him as you would have any other person. It was logical from a stranger’s standpoint. If you were Seto Kaiba you would be annoyed by every squeal and instead wanted to work instead of hanging out with incompetent fools who so painfully obviously had nothing _better_ to do.

It was so relatable, you found yourself questioning your own personality because that was _very_ concerning. Kaiba was a...an _interesting_ personality. To say the least, especially when he was on air.

Seriously, what _sane_ person jumps out of a _helicopter,_ and oh- buys out the _entirety of Domino City_ to host a _card game tournament-_ like what the hell? Your parents were fairly well off- but this was just _ridiculous._

But back to the topic at hand, pretending that Kaiba was just a regular student was like asking the girls in anime to stop admiring _Sakamoto_ from _Sakamoto Desu Ga?._ Which is to say- you didn’t really _want to._ What you _wanted_ to do was ask him for his autograph and gush about how the video games he had created were some good shit. Though you were pretty sure on the get-go from analyzing his stance and general expression that he was an ass. You could say you didn’t care, but that would be lying. You cared _a hell of a lot._ So you figured, to keep the image of fan Kaiba alive, you would pretend that he was a normal guy.

That plan went to shit pretty quickly when he told you to move the fuck over- and in your defense, you didn’t know that it was _his chair._ Hell, you didn’t even know there _was such a thing._ I mean, stuff like that came from _Fiction._ You would _know._

Then it turns out that he has the locker right over you? What sort of destiny shit was that? Honestly, you have half a mind to ask the Principle to change the location of your locker- if you hadn’t found out that _there were no other places._

How such a thing would happen, you didn’t know. Though you had a sneaking suspicion it was the mere fact that Kaiba probably didn’t want _anyone_ near his locker. Or maybe it was the second one so he could move all Valentine's stuff in the second locker? Who knows, it wasn’t exactly relevant to your situation.

You shook your head, taking a breath and walking in. Throwing a dark glare to the asshat that had thought to corner you at your locker would be a sure fire way to get a date. Where was chivalry? Oh right, you usually had to put in the effort to find such a thing. Equally concerning but sensible, in your opinion. It was just annoying to deal with the unchivalrous and the feeling-entitled.

 

Holding in a breath, you quickened your pace. Walking across the classroom and sitting in the seat where you had been yesterday. Knee jerking up and down with nothing to do. You would have pulled out your laptop, but saw no point in it seeing as how class would start in approximately five minutes. The alternative would be to take out your notebook or book and wait for the time to pass- but you had lost your favorite mechanical pencil and the book just wasn’t looking interesting at the moment in the face of your loss.

It was pissing you off to no end but you couldn’t get a new one at least until the end of the school week, for now you would have to deal. Or perhaps make a plan to buy _more_ of the favorite pencil instead. Insensible due to the fact that it was your favorite because it held sentimental value but what _else_ were you supposed to do?

 _“Son of a lepers donkey mother fucking shit twat,”_ You whispered darkly into your mindscape, cursing out the fool who had caused you to lose the pencil in the first place. _“D’arviting piece of shit-“_

People around you started to hear a strange rumbling and promptly leaned away when they found the source of it was a scowling individual who just happened to be growling while being stuck in such a state where awareness of the reality outside the mindscape was deemed unimportant.

You felt a presence beside you which promptly snapped you out of it, blinking and staring at the burnet who had sat down with a small growl. Normally perfect uniform slightly askew.

Someone definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you mentally noted.

Noticing your stare, you found yourself gazing into sapphire blue eyes that were currently engaged with in a deep scowl that had you almost reeling and asking, _“Woah what the fuck did I do?”._

“What?” He growled instead.

You blinked before inclining your head and waving a hello before forcibly turning your head to face the board. Knee jumping insistently at this point. You still had nothing to do, which bothered you immensely but not enough to convince you that annoying a pissed off billionaire was a good idea. Besides, he helped you out before- sort of? Well, all the same, it wasn’t your place to stick your nose into his business so as far as you knew, he was fine. For now, at least.

Your mind wandered for a bit, contemplating situations which would make this school day _so much better._ Maybe a giant eye of a leviathan popping from the sky- that would totally make things less…boring.

Would also help you to stop feeling like you wanted to shoot yourself just to make things more interesting because really- what sort of person _has_ these thoughts _?_ Maybe you should find yourself a person with a destiny. It would be like in Harry Potter where he’s constantly getting into trouble- main character rules applying.

Or maybe just find yourself a Hogwarts, but then that would be boring because no Harry Potter. Oh well, learning magic couldn’t be as boring as learning how to find the volume of some obscure shape that was _clearly_ a _sphere **why** aren’t there any signs of pi?_

Mathematics wanting to kill your brain aside, the concern for the blue eyed CEO next to you was slowly growing in annoyance as you presented yourself several theories as to why the man was acting like someone said dragons where blasphemy and that someone couldn’t be sued to hell and back. Seriously, one could think that Kaiba was involved in some sort of clusterfuck of a bad with that sort of attitude- and they might not be wrong either. Who knows with the one and only Seto Kaiba; the man was hard to read most of the time.

When class started, the thought never left you alone as you answered the mathematical question that on any other day, would have made you want to skip it in favor of dealing with a twenty-page essay. Hell, you could guarantee that you would have had one hell of a better time with the essay. By the end of the teacher’s lecturing (and hell on a cracker that was some monotone type talking right there)  you were not only bored out of your mind, but also currently being slapped in the face with that shit of a human trait called _curiosity._

And holy _shit_ was curiosity an asshole.

Knee bouncing up and down, you constantly snuck a peak of the man next to you. Mostly to see if his mood had improved any- and holy fucking shit- _nothing_ changed. You were almost concerned that the man had something up his ass, but clearly that wasn’t the issue. The scowl on his face only proved to twitch into something scarier as the minutes into classes ticked on.

Then he faced you squarely, “What do you _want?”_

 _“Oh shit,”_ You thought to yourself as you forced your expression to blank. Squishing your eyebrows together in a way that you knew would convey confusion- the only move you could make considering you were up shit creek with no damn paddle.

The scowl only severed with that move, “Enough with the antics, _what do you want?”_

At this point, you knew you were fucked hard but you knew next to nothing of what to do. You damn well couldn’t _tell_ him that either so you were kind of making motions with your hands that you hoped convey the type of confusion that sort of said, “ _well **I** don’t fucking know?” _

This only seemed to poke the beast with the stick harder as he scowled further, which sort of threw you in for a loop because people weren’t your expertise- you didn’t deal with people on a regular basis how the hell were you supposed to deal with a sue happy Kaiba? It could very much plausibly bring down everything you had been working towards and that thought alone just made your chest constrict in a familiar, too-tight way.

Then he surprised you, by slamming down a familiar looking pencil on your desk and turning back to his book.

“Stop moving your knee so damn much, it’s annoying.”

You didn’t stop but you _did_ stare at the pencil for roughly half an hour in confusion. Blinking in your own version of a gulping fish out of water as your chest suddenly felt free of the elephant weight.

As the bell rang, you carefully grasped the pencil in your hands as you stood. Walking briskly towards English with ideas swirling around your head.

Because frankly that bit of contradictory action to expression shit _so_ needed to be written down.

* * *

 

In English class, you didn’t even bother paying attention to the teacher. Finishing the work early and cracking open your notebook while swiftly writing.

Your name was called, and you didn’t bother looking up. Going as far as to _bring the damn book with you_ as you went up to the board, fixed the damn sentence and go back to what you were doing. Kaiba seemed confused as to why you had just shifted to insufferable distraction to hyper focus onto a simple page in a matter of a few minutes in getting back your pencil. Especially when you had looked at the teacher with a look that conveyed _“If you stop me now I will commit **homicide.”**_

Kaiba wasn’t sure if he should have been able to discern such a look so accurately, but given the fact that you had almost stabbed the last classmate who had attempted to break you out of your writing reverie, he figured he was fairly close to the truth. While he was curious in what you were doing, he had the impression that he should leave you to your devices and perhaps prevent everyone else from doing such a thing. Which was ridiculous, he barely knew you. Still, the expression you had made upon confrontation brought up some old feelings as he could tell that your expression was carefully constructed. Enough so that you probably thought that he would chalk the matter to you being a nosy prick of an idiot. Which was shattered easily when he questioned it and demanded an actual answer. Giving him an expression of actual _genuine_ confusion and panic.

The question lied where _why_ you felt the need for fabricating such emotions.

That thought made him glance at you at the corner of his eye, noting the fact that you were currently writing like a mad fool. Expression twitching every so often with emotion before settling back into a blank state.

There was also how every teacher would quiet their protests whenever they witnessed you very much not paying any sort of attention in their classes. At first he chalked it up to the fact that you seemed more than proficient in the subject matter, but even then. There was a quiet sense carefulness in the way they handled you, as if you could break on them at any moment. If the expressions you made directly after the interaction was to be believed, you were aware of this and it annoyed you. Which made certain of Kaiba’s current thought that your only “disability” seemed to be that you were mute.

Which made certain aspects of your “personality” slightly more understandable. You were able to manipulate your emotions likely because it had been your only source of communication, and had likely practiced it on a psychologist. It also explained why you seemed to constantly be somewhere else when in class, this was probably due to being used to be left alone from a private tutor upbringing. Though of course, that brought up the question as to why you were here in the first place. Clearly you were bored in class, and you had made no moves to even try and extend a hand of _dare he say it-_ friendship towards him. Only showing mild interest and maybe concern whenever he was annoyed. Kaiba himself only went to Domino High to get his diploma and be done with it- but you clearly had the option to simply have private tutors throughout the year. Which only left Kaiba to believe that you were in Domino High to get away from something- home perhaps.

Then he found himself staring at a piece of folded paper.

 _“Guess you're better now.”_ It said.

He looked to his side to see you were still diligently writing, very much distracted all the same. Then you paused.

You shifted to meet his eyes before tilting your head. A question.

Kaiba sighed, crumpling the paper in his hands before allowing a single nod.

You nodded back and turned to your notebook, resuming your work. The noise of the classroom shifting into the background as the both of you entertained yourselves with something more interesting.

* * *

 

The bell rang, and once again you were the only two left in the room. Distracted, you seemed to not even notice the bell’s ringing and by the time you did, Kaiba was awkwardly standing next to your desk. Waiting.

You frowned at him, raising your eyebrows. Confusion.

Honestly, he didn’t know either but you had proven to be a pretty persistent distraction that he would have to indulge being a part of his routine in the next few weeks.

“Hurry up.”

You nodded, still frowning as you put books away and stood. Walking silently and matching Kaiba’s stride as the two of you walked over to the library. Jogging after him as you attempted to catch up to him, huffing silently as your lungs weren’t used to the labor you had been putting it through.

Although normally you would find the lack of conversation comforting, when it came to the infamous Seto Kaiba you couldn’t help but wonder about his motives. He hardly did anything without reason, well. A reason that was self-serving usually, but it was a reason none the less. It left your mind to wander as your attention was split into following Kaiba and attempting to figure out his reasoning for making you follow along. He didn’t look to be the type to need a constant routine- and even if that _were_ the case, your interruption yesterday would have thrown it off. So logically he _shouldn’t_ want you to follow him around. And yet that left you the question _why the hell was he asking you to follow him?_ It certainly put you into a mental puzzle.

All things considered, you were doing a pretty good job of multitasking until you found yourself walking into a dark blue school jacket. Blinking, your body swayed slightly before falling back on your other foot. Regaining your balance.

“I already told you Asaka, I’m not interested.”

You peeked out from behind the billionaire, catching a glimpse of blond hair and strange colored eyes. Most likely a product of being artificial contacts, you briefly concluded. Her school uniform looked crisp and ironed, yet her stance left you quickly coming to the conclusion of the girl’s arrogance. Though you reserved any certainty of that conclusion for later.

“Seto, it will be beneficial for both of us,” The girl gave what she might have thought to be a winning smile as she blinked rapidly up at Kaiba. “I’ll have you as my boyfriend, and you won’t be annoyed by different girls anymore.”

You internally scoffed at that, it was Seto Kaiba, the chances of that happening was if his company suddenly plummeted to hell and bankruptcy. An instance that would be very much unlikely to happen.

“I’m not interested,” Kaiba nearly growled, you could practically see the stiff stance he had just from his back alone. Face pulled into a sneer.

“Kaiba-“

Internally sighing, you stepped out from behind the tall man. Looking at the girl in an unassuming stare before tilting your head and turning to Kaiba.

Lifting your hands, you made quick gestures. Hoping to whatever was out there that Kaiba was self-relying enough to learn sign himself rather than relying on a translator. You also hoped that the girl was also uncaring enough of people that she wouldn’t bother learning any sort of sign language. Otherwise, this was going to hell in a handbasket faster than you can say _fuck._

He blinked, face still pulled into a scowl, but you could tell the silent understanding swimming under sapphire eyes as your gestures registered in his mind.

Slowly he nodded, his face smoothing out into something more impassive, “I’ll meet you after school instead. Go.”

You nodded, flashing a brief smile at him before turning to the girl. Smiling again before bowing slightly, moving past the both of them to head to the psychologist's office. Looking forward to spending lunch in comfortable silence. 

* * *

Kaiba watched you shuffle out before turning to Asaka, “Does that answer your question?”

She didn’t seem fooled as she scowled for the briefest moments, “What- you're dating _that?_ And here I thought you had _standards_ Kaiba.”

He scowled further, “Who I spend time with is none of your business.”

“Still- it’s obvious that the freak is just faking it to make it easier in class- I mean _come on._ Is there really such a thing as being unable to speak cause your _head_ won’t let you?”

“Ahem.”

Asaka turned around to see the school psychologist, Dr. Fujino look at her with a raised eyebrow. Meanwhile, you were next to her, hands deep into navy blue trousers. Face unassuming but also carefully blank. Yet Kaiba could see the internal struggle to remain impassive, only the subtle shift of your foot indicating any sign of what you were actually feeling. 

Strangely enough, Kaiba felt that you were more uncomfortable than angry. As if you were used to such acusations. 

It left a bad taste in his mouth. 

“Elective mutism, though normally usual in children with certain physical disorders can also be caused by trauma,” The doctor said icily, a dark brown eye looked at Asaka with a disappointed stare. At the word trauma, Kaiba shifted his gaze to you. Which you subtly shrugged at.

“I expect you to be careful with your words next time Ms. Asaka,” The doctor continued, narrowing her eyes at the girl before turning to you. “You said your parents were out of town? For how long.”

You tilted your head, closing your eyes for the briefest moment before making more signs. The doctor scowled more, releasing a sharp sound of disappointment before turning to Kaiba himself.

Kaiba, having understood the language frowned slightly before also meeting eyes with the doctor, face blank with a mute assessment before turning to you. Raising her hand for something.

You passed her a slip, which wrote on with a pen from her coat before returning the note.

“Kaiba, you’re excused for the day. You two go enjoy your weekend,” She said before turning around, looking over her shoulder to stare at Kaiba with a silent order before continuing her path.

Asaka turned to you scowling until she saw your bewildered expression. Staring at the slip in your hand with surprise before frowning, eyebrows raised high and exhibiting a thick representation confusion and disbelief. With that, Asaka sharply turned, stomping back to wherever she had usually stayed during lunch.

 You looked up from where you had been staring at the note, making gestures with your hands quickly, even though some of it was obscured by the fact that you were holding the note.

“No. And even if I did, what makes you think I’d go to the school psychologist for such a note? Why were you even there?”

You shrugged, making a gesture at your bag where you had put your notebook and laptop before making another quick gesture with your hands, _“Working.”_

Sighing, Kaiba turned and began heading towards the main office and subsequent exit. “Come on then.”

* * *

You awkwardly sipped at your cup of tea as Kaiba drank his coffee. Normally, such a setting into a private nook with the smell of comforting drinks and books would put you right in the zone. All the same, Kaiba was proving to be a major distraction as he worked on his own laptop. Both in looks, and considering the fact that Kaiba had just been witness to that embarrassing scene. Honestly, Dr. Fujino was a little more expressive than the previous doctors you had seen, but you never expected the woman to outright defend you. You had half a mind to run the other way when it happened. It wasn't as if such comments were unfamiliar to you, it was just things you had come to accept with your no less than strange upbringing.  

“I don’t recall English nor history having an assignment.”

Your eyes shot up at him even as he was still looking at his own screen, the comment had seemed so out of place that had almost cast it off as a trick of the mind. His questioning look up at you was answer enough. Or well, more likely  _tell me the answer now_ look. 

You shook your head no before lifting your hands up higher to speak.

_“Not assignment. Different work.”_

At that, the silence continued before it got darker, evening rolled around.

“Do you live far?”

Closing the screen of your laptop, you looked at Kaiba in surprise before shrugging, lifting your phone from your pocket to show the address of where you lived.

He rose a skeptical eyebrow, “That is an address for the manor near my own home.”

You shrugged, putting the phone back into its place before sliding your laptop carefully into your bag. Freeing your hands for speaking, “I get driven to school but I take some busses to the house.”

Kaiba caught the use of _house_ and not _home._ Chosing not to comment on it. 

The two of you got up from the café and walked out, yourself mentally prepared to walk to the bus station before feeling a strong grip on your forearm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Frowning, your lifted you're singing hand up and spelled, _“House.”_

 _“_ It’s late. This area may be calm, but it’s still a city,” Kaiba tugged slightly before letting go. An indication to follow him as a limo drove by, stopping in front of Kaiba.

He opened the door and stepped in, leaving the door open, presumably for you.

While your mind was still skeptical, you swallowed the lump in your throat as you followed in after him.

You mentally sighed at the situation as you sat in front of Kaiba in the spacious limo, nothing but the sounds of the limo driving by filling the silence between the two of you.

Your life and your work were starting to connect and you weren’t sure how to feel about that.

* * *

A/n:  _Guess who's back brosssssssss._ _Took a bit before getting here, but AHA I finally have this chapter finish. Now here's hoping the next one will come easier, but I think I have a good idea where I want to go with this so heh._

_Dedications To:_

**_Only_one_name:_ ** _Here you go~ A little bit of an explanation that lays out some things of where this story is going_

**_Leaf-Ripper:_ ** _And more you now have, hope you enjoyed it!_

_**Cheyenne:** And an update you have!  
_

**_Thanks for reading, have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!_ **

 


	3. The Fourth Shuns Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All you wanted to do was relax. Oh well.

Chapter 3, The Forth Shuns Calm

* * *

 

 Blinking as the morning light slowly flooded your room, you sat up. Rubbing at your eyes to remove the crusty residue from your sleep. Yesterday had been ridiculous in momentous ways, you were quite prepared to have expected it to be a dream cooked up by your vivid imagination. As all dreams in this level of ludicrous often were.

Except, of course, it wasn’t.

Despite your disbelief, a wave of amusement washed over you as you mentally recalled the previous day’s events. Getting up and getting dressed in more appropriate attire for walking about Domino City. While normally you would be working, for once you had a bit of extra time in your carefully planned schedule for some enjoyment. You had half a mind to arm yourself with a straw hat and head to Universal Studios for the weekend, but you pushed that idea to a later date. The temperature had dropped slightly in the area and people would no doubt take advantage of such a drop. Briefly making a trip to your own bathroom inside your room, you pushed out of the door. The bag filled with the essentials of your notebook, laptop, tablet, and book as you walked across the hall of the second floor of the manor.

The manor inside was quiet without the maids and butlers bustling about, but they had been temporarily put on a vacation until your parents returned. Whenever that was. Leaving only the driver who did not live within the home in the first place. The inside was decorated in what you assumed was a tasteful selection of cold grays. Filling the inside with a cold hue that never really caught your attention as anything particularly enjoyable. Though you admitted that you didn’t mind the cold tone.

Pulling your bag closer, you made your way down stairs. Carpet muffling the sounds of your well-worn sneakers as you double stepped your way down. You were feeling particularly restless in light of the yesterday’s events, so you concluded that perhaps a little air would do you good. Walking across the spacious entrance of the manor, you pushed past the door to enter the garage. The gray cement complementing the various sports cars that lived within the garage along with the motorcycles. You personally didn’t spend too much time here, but the driver occasionally came by to tune up some of the vehicles.

You ignored the bigger cars and pushed all the way to the side door of the garage. Content as you closed the door behind you and walked on the cobble stone path that cut across the yard and onto the side entrance of the gate in front of the manor. It was the least obvious way out and the doors were far easier to lock compared to the main entrances.

Ear plugs jammed in your ears, music began to fill the silence with words as you locked the gate door behind you from where you had decided to exit. Leaving you to the cool morning air.

Content with the weather, you turned and walked in a direction to where the nearest bus station to the Down Town was. The roads were empty due to the fact that your manor had resided in a private residential area, but it only left an unnerving sense of vulnerability that you couldn’t ignore if you tried. It hadn’t been easy at first, you had obsessed over maps for days in an attempt to get a better grip on how you would get through certain events life. It lead to you knowing almost the entire map of the railway system when you decided to get on a train, as well as all the bus routes.

-

You got off with a sigh, smiling at the dispersed crowds in the downtown of Domino City. You quickly joined them and tucked your bag closer to yourself. Resting a hand on top of the flap out of habitual precaution. Like Kaiba had said the night previously, a city was a city. You shuffled through the crowd, aiming for one destination in mind.

You walked through the turtle game shop, relaxing at the site of the young man you had seen around school. Though you had met him before your attendance. You waved.

Revealing a grin, Yugi waved back before leaning on top of the counter, “Hey, so I heard you’re going to Domino High now?”

You nodded, digging into your pocket for your phone and typing swiftly before selecting the speech option on the app, _“Yep, just went two days ago. Sorry I couldn’t meet you and your friends.”_

“No it’s okay, I’m pretty sure you were more than busy dealing with the catch-up homework,” Yugi said indulgently. “Though I heard you made friends with Kaiba? I’m glad for the both of you.”

Snorting, you quickly shook your head no, _“Just acquaintances. Dr. Fujino sent us home after a run in with some girl.”_

Yugi chuckled, “Really? You two look cute together though.”

Yugi pulled out his phone to show you a picture someone had snapped through what must have been between a couple books in the café. It had both you and Kaiba settled next to each other, serene expressions (or at least, in Kaiba’s case a blank face) as you both were working on your respective laptops. While you would admit the picture was a probably a fodder for gossip, you still would deny the fact that the two of you looked rather aesthetically pleasing around each other. Frankly, you didn’t think it was a thought worth pursuing. Not only was Kaiba a heavily dedicated businessman, you didn’t think he held such interests in anything beyond his work, his brother, and beating Yugi.

You briefly shook your head before pushing Yugi’s phone away, _“Definitely just friends. I think Dr. Fujino coerced him into it, she glared at him before she left.”_

“Really? But she always looked so nice.” Yugi said, putting his phone away. “Anyway, since I know it’ll make you uncomfortable I’ll drop it. I assume you’re here for some friendly dueling?”

You nodded smiling, for a person who never actively stayed with current trends, dueling was a pretty cool way to connect with other people. You weren’t particularly good at it, but you enjoyed playing against Yugi. He also occasionally gave you some insider on any new cards Kaiba was developing for future duel techniques. Not only that, but he had been the one to first introduce you to the actual game and even asked his grandpa if the two of you could gather some packs and make a deck together. Prior to the meeting you had mostly kept to watching tournaments, it wasn’t until you were bored that you sought out the famous turtle shop where the King of Games himself lived where you met Yugi and consequently, build a deck of your own. You afford to pay, but neither Yugi nor his grandfather would have it. And since Yugi practically knew all the cards in the game, there was little need for actual verbal communication on your part, while Yugi explained his moves simply out of habit. He also had a quick enough wit where he would catch on to your moves as you performed them, letting him know exactly what you were doing when you made the move without having to explain it. In the end, you didn’t really mind when you lost every time. It was sort of like playing chess with Ron Weasley, invigorating in a friendship developing kind of way.

So you moved behind the counter, settling beside him and mentally counting the minutes you could afford to stay as Yugi pulled out your deck. You didn’t keep it at home for fear of discovery when you first got it from Yugi, but now it was just a habit to leave it here. The two of you played a standard game, and as time went on you were pleased to know that you had gone off a lot longer than previous duels as you lost against Yugi’s dark magician.

“That was a good game, you did very well,” Yugi said cheerfully tucking away his deck. “Maybe next time we can do the whole thing with duel disks and everything.”

You smiled before nodding, pushing the neat pile of your deck towards him before hopping off the bar stool usually reserved for Yugi’s grandfather.

“So how’s your book coming along?”

You lifted your hand making a so-so motion as you prepared to walk out, fixing your bag and other items that had gotten displaced during the duel before you moved to help Yugi put away the aftermath of your Duel. Such as the gaming mats, dice, and calculators. Which were used mostly for data’s sake, Yugi, you had quickly found, was no slouch when it came to mathematics. The teen was advanced and could keep track of nearly every life point loss, as well as make quick calculations in split seconds. You were no slouch, but you took more time in terms of calculation. Especially since Yugi was fond of performing combo after combo.

 Vaguely, you heard the bell chime but paid no mind as you helped Yugi put away the foam mat and table.

“Hi Kaiba!”

You froze. Your arms growing still as you had put the mat away before turning to face the apparent customer.

 _Challenger,_ you mentally corrected yourself. Kaiba had enough money that he could probably buy the entire turtle shop and then some blocks, the man rented out a _city._ All the same, you rushed to clean up before striding quickly past Kaiba.

Or at least, _attempted to._

“What are _you_ doing here?”

You shrug in the face of interrogation, mentally preparing a multitude of excuses of why you were needed elsewhere- and quickly-

“We were just dueling.”

You mentally screeched at Yugi, really. He was a great friend, you would consider him one of your best- but seriously. You weren’t going to walk out of this turtle shell shop unscathed.

“ _Dueling?”_

Scratch that, you were going to _die._

There was a sound of a strangled, meek, growl coming from your throat as you uneasily looked away from intense sapphire eyes that you were about 70% sure were infused with the power of Kaiba’s favorite _Burst Stream of Destruction._ The fact that it would have been impossible was nulled due to the fact that it was Kaiba, and he probably tried to make it work anyway.

Mentally, you prayed that you were just going to be told off about your lack of dueling skills (which you believed were true and _wasn’t_ actually insulting) and some blows to your pride (you could afford them) and decided that the best course of action would be to shuffle out as quickly and as quietly as you could manage. If you could just make it past the door-

He grabbed your arm and halted you in your tracks, turning to Yugi expectantly.

You hung your head as Yugi replied that he would have to close shop before coming along but otherwise didn’t do anything to help you out of your predicament of how you apparently defied the unspoken rule that _no one_ was allowed to duel Yugi except for Kaiba. You had heard from Yugi that Kaiba had yelled at him for getting beaten by someone _other_ than himself and that was just enough information to tell you that clearly there was a line there. Which didn’t make sense- you never beat Yugi, ergo you should be fine. Or did the rules change with the fact that apparently, the world doesn’t need saving anymore? (You were going to ignore the ridiculousness of it all because of the fact that Yugi looked _very_ serious when he retold the stories.) Overall, you didn’t know what was going on as you trailed behind Kaiba and Yugi, on your way to apparently a duel stadium that held a tournament every once in a while sponsored by Kaiba Corp.

You got into the limo, contemplating whether you should just get out the other side as Kaiba had forced you in first before Yugi followed. Deciding to try your luck, you slowly placed your hand on the handle that would grant you freedom.

“Don’t.”

You lowered your hand, looking away from the arrogant asshole of a shit fuck to conceal the fact that your lip was upturned by the mere word. You weren’t pouting.

You stayed silent as Yugi and Kaiba discussed some things, business most likely. From your vague hearing, you could make out details of a game in planning- probably set to go into motion after the two of them graduated in the upcoming year. You may or may not have found it interesting but the circumstances of your presence within the limo rendered you unwilling to communicate in any way, shape, or form.

Though you didn’t necessarily mind being in a limo, your parents had sent you into plenty before. Granted, it didn’t quite have the atmosphere Kaiba’s had. Despite the blue and white theme of the car, it held a warmth that felt foreign to you as the sound of discussion filled the car.

At one point, your opinion on the matter was dragged out of you as Yugi asked you a question about a possible story within his game, which you weren’t going to answer until Kaiba gave you a pointed look that spoke volumes of pain. So you rolled what information you had gathered within your mind in your head before signing, relying on Kaiba to translate for Yugi as you spoke of plausible story lines for the game. You briefly saw Kaiba raise an eyebrow a little as you explained one possible story line that was particularly complex, but you attributed the scene to a trick of the light as you finished. Resting your hands and turning away while Kaiba retold some of the story to Yugi.

Despite how much of a jackass you knew him to be in real life, you observed a slight…kindness in Kaiba as he spoke to Yugi. About business, yes, but there was a definite bond there. Not exactly one born through friendship per say, but an understanding of each other. A certain protectiveness, you observed.

While you didn’t often interact with people, you certainly observed them. It fascinated you how much of a difference body language and spoken language (regardless of how it was spoken) can have or lack. Someone might claim an eternal love for another person and yet still have a body language of one who was terrified or uncaring. You hadn’t noticed the tick you had until later when you watched your parents interact in the shadows. They were warm towards each other, verbally. Yet in body language, you could tell even when you were a child that they had eyes for others. A marriage born of profit and mutual benefit, though not necessarily for your parents you had hypothesized. In the end, it dulled the sharp knife bitterness that had sliced into your skin as you passed into your teenage years. Understanding that you were not a child born out of affection but out of a need for more profit. It made actions of others as they didn’t acknowledge your presence a little easier understand when you comprehended the words unspoken. Some read guilt, others indifference.

Kaiba and Yugi were one of the few you had met in person who were as honest as they seemed. While you sensed hidden depths, in both Kaiba and Yugi, their words reflected who they were as a person for the most part. For Yugi you were sure it was a genuine honesty, for Kaiba you weren’t so sure. Though you would wager that such characteristics were born from indifference. A cold attitude that would only shift for a slight moment for his own benefit, you would wager, and you knew that slight shift wouldn’t be anything beyond a micro fraction at best. 

That being said, as the car stopped, you remained silent as you made the decision to follow along to whatever they were going to do. A duel probably. They still continued their discussion up until they approached the arena. The silence was slightly unnerving as they separated across the two fields, the driver escorted you to a section of seats nearest to the field. Taking a seat himself while you sat, leaning forward with your elbows digging into your thighs as you watched.

-

When they dueled, all things were pulled out. Yugi dueled with his usual determination that reflected the main character from Undertale on a pacifist run. Kaiba goaded Yugi, casually dropping insults that never actually seemed to be meant to sting the other. It was more like a familiar banter between the two as they dueled. Though the electricity in the air was crackling between the two in silent reverence, as if it acknowledged the fact that a battle between these two forces was to be held in a tense atmosphere. Like the world shifted just to involve only Yugi and Kaiba in their own version of a duel of fate.

You had watched videos of these duels before, though they had nothing on the real thing as they exchanged blows and counters. In your vivid imagination, you imagined another scene, more familiar to you as they battled.

_-_

_The flames inside the temple burned brightly as the two battled each other, a magician against a dragon. The two masters of these fierce beasts ordering blow after blow. Though the battle was intense, there was a sense of calm. A familiar movement in how the two nobles would clash with each other in a dangerous game._

_-_

You blinked, filing away that image for later. A potential scene born from an intense real action of your witnessing was rare these days, it made for the best scenes in your book.

You watched as Yugi made a finishing move, shocking Kaiba as he summoned his signature card Gandora. Ending the duel. You vaguely filed away the slight twinge of Kaiba’s jaw as the duel ended, like was unhappy with the result. Though you didn’t think that it was because he had lost. At the back of your mind, the distinct lack of magicians that disturbed you.

At the end of it all, you took the time to silently shuffle away. Moving inch by inch until you could successfully walk away from the arena. Avoiding the driver and walking out the same path you had walked in, you quickly jogged out of the arena building and ran the fuck away from the stadium. Or at least you tried.

In the hall way exit, you ran into a young man slightly shorter than you were, blinking you stepped back tilted your head. Mind spinning before you quickly pointed at him and tilted your head, shifting your hand into a thumbs up to try and convey the question.

“Huh? Oh- Yeah I’m fine. Don’t worry I can understand sign- uh. You aren’t really allowed in here- how’d you get in?”

You quickly shifted your hands, _“Mr. Kaiba took me here with Yugi. They finished so I’m just seeing myself out.”_

“Really? Funny thing is Seto doesn’t usually let anyone leave on their own so…”

You winced, shifting your hands again, _“Yugi may have told him that I dueled him before they had met and I’m trying to save myself from the verbal trauma.”_

At that, the young man laughed and shook his head, “I’m pretty sure big brother will only get mad _if_ you manage to beat Yugi.”

You shrugged, _“Then I don’t know why he took me here. I was on my way out of the turtle shop when he took me along.”_

“Huh- well, I can’t really just let you out-“

 _“Understandable,”_ You signed.

“So I’ll talk to him and see what he wants with you okay? I’m Mokuba by the way,” the black haired man extended a hand to shake, which you took firmly before retracting your hand to speak.

 _“Nice to meet you in the flesh,”_ You quickly spelled your name before frowning slightly. _“And I expect you to save me from the trauma.”_

Mokuba chuckled again, looking quite dashing in his white suit that mirrored his brother somewhat, “No promises. Come on, they’re probably talking about the game in the office- and he probably sent Roland to seek you out.”

You nodded, following diligently next to the vice president of Kaiba Corp as you looked around the area curiously. With the size of the building, even Comicon could probably be hosted here. With its blue and white theme throughout the entire complex, you theorized that everything Kaiba made usually had some color relation to his favorite playing card.

You turned to the younger Kaiba, raising your hands slightly to his eye level so he could see while the two of you walked, _“Is it true that your brother keeps Neosporin and blue eyes white dragon themed bandages in his trench coat?”_

 “Don’t be ridiculous,” Mokuba said while snorting. “He keeps it in all his pants pockets.”

You grinned, _“Cool.”_

“Where did you learn this?” Mokuba said curiously.

 _“Online,”_ You signed, digging into your pockets for your phone and pulling up a couple of saved posts about Kaiba from Tumblr. Showing Mokuba the post and the subsequent fan art.

“Oh that’s cool! Also pretty accurate. I think Seto did that three weeks ago when we went to KaibaLand,” Mokuba informed you. Curious, you pulled up a text to speech app.

_“Is it true that you and your brother ran and jumped into a helicopter that was in midair?”_

“Where’d you learn that?”

_“Yugi.”_

“Oh, well. Seto threw me up to the helicopter while he jumped. Yugi followed after.”

Surprised, you typed, _“Yugi jumped??????”_

Mokuba laughed as the text to speak repeated the several question marks that you had typed to hopefully convey the adequate level of shock and disbelief, “Yeah. It was pretty cool. Scary but cool. His friend Jounouchi caught him.”

Mokuba considered you for a moment. “So you don’t think my big brother’s kind of a jerk?”

You shrugged, putting away your phone to free your hands, _“He’s definitely scary. And sometimes he’s a jerk. But I don’t think that’s all there is to him. A person who likes Yugi can’t be **that** cold hearted.” _

“Some would say that my big brother hates Yugi.”

You pursed your lip, tilting your head to the side, _“There’s a warmth there when he interacts with Yugi. It’s easy to miss but I think he considers Yugi a good friend. Even if he doesn’t realize it, his body knows.”_

“You read body language often?”

You shrug, tilting your head further to emphasize the action, _“Sometimes it’s all I can do. Some people don’t really talk once they realize that I speak through sign. I think they assume I’m deaf, so I’ve taken to reading body language when it happens.”_

Mokuba frowned at that, “That’s stupid.”

_“People don’t usually think about other disabilities than the obvious, unfortunately. It’s just what happens I’m afraid.”_

Mokuba pouted, which you had to restrain yourself from chuckling at. Almost certain that he wouldn’t appreciate being treated like a child, as people often dealing with work at a young age often were. You knew that _you_ certainly didn’t like it, and you were close to graduating high school. _But_ you also had a steady income, a future apartment to move into once you were legally an adult, and some money set aside when you did move into said apartment.

Given those facts, because of Mokuba’s adorable appearance, it was pretty difficult, but you managed.

“I’m going to talk to Seto about having all the employees at KaibaLand learn and practice sign. It’s a perk that will get you guaranteed work, but we’ve been taking strides to make all, if not most of the rides good for people with disabilities,” Mokuba grinned proudly. “The motorized Blue Eyes White Dragon wheel chair will be put into fabrication in three months.”

You nodded in approval, _“Nice. Your idea I presume?”_

“Yeah! Big brother let me take charge of the project!”

The two of you went back and forth as you walked, finally stopping at a door that had words of discussion going back and forth behind it. Mokuba motioned for you to wait as he walked in, greeting his brother and Yugi before motioning for you to follow. You shuffled in awkwardly, attempting to subtly hide behind Mokuba while Kaiba looked at him when he explained.

Then Kaiba turned to you.

“You said you were working when we were at the café.”

Slowly, and very much confused, you nodded. Hands sub consciously resting on your bag where a majority of your work was.

“Yugi said you’re a writer.”

Again, still heavily confused, you nodded.

“Did you write this book?”

Kaiba lifted up a book for your viewing, which you had to step closer to him to see. Despite the fact that your eyes were decent, you still spent a majority of your time in front of a computer, or sometimes a laptop, screen. In spite of your better judgment, you walked closer until you could get your hands on the book, inspecting it.

It was definitely one of yours, but it looked like a very old one. The title told you it was the first book you ever had published, a one shot featuring a story of an ancient Atlantean setting where three knights united against a common threat of destruction, utilizing the power of three noble and powerful dragons. You always thought it was a little corny, but you had fun writing it. Not only that but once it was published it actually did pretty well. You were quite curious where Kaiba had gotten this copy since it was the original cover and not the revamped version. It looked pretty well read too.

You looked back up at Kaiba watching you closely and nodded.

Mokuba gasped behind you, making you turn swiftly in alarm as his eyes widened.

“YOU WROTE KNIGHTS OF ATLANTIS?!”

You slightly winced at the volume while you heard Seto in front of you vaguely scold him with a warning, _“Mokuba”._ Though you nodded all the same.

Grappling, Mokuba seemed to move quickly as he patted himself down for something, much to your bewilderment before running over to you with a piece of paper that he got from…somewhere. At this point, you were staring at him, very much stiff and rooted to the spot. 

“I’d ask you to sign my book but can you please sign this too? Please?” Mokuba said.

You found yourself moving and signing the piece of paper, a little bit bemused and very much still bewildered as Mokuba whooped and quickly pocketed the small piece of paper you had signed.

You turned to Kaiba to ask him a question, but you were silenced with the book in front of you.

“Sign this too.”

You looked at him, not moving to get the book but moving your arms to ask.

_“U.H. Why?”_

He looked away, tossing the book at you to grapple after.

“It’s my copy.”

You turned to Yugi who gave you a grin and a thumbs up before opening the page and signing it with the same pen Mokuba had loaned you. Still very much confused and mind numbingly shocked.

* * *

As you left the arena and was dropped off at your manor, you moved automatically to your room. Putting away your stuff and bag before flopping onto your office chair.

Your facial expression pulled tightly into a frown, _What the hell._

On top of that, you wrote down a question that had occurred to you when you first saw Kaiba outside of school. In his strange outfit of trench coat and all black.

Uh, _where_ the _heck_ were his shoes?

* * *

A/n: Chapter 3! Admittedly I got stuck towards the middle but I managed to figure out a way to continue. 

_Dedications To:_

**_LilKitten:_ ** _I do actually use Grammarly somewhat before posting but I find that it sometimes differentiates with what I want to write so heh. All the same, thank you for reading and commenting and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. The story shall continue to progress and all things shall shape up soon enough, heh_

**_Happyanon:_ ** _Thank you for commenting on the last chapter and hopefully you don't completely mind the grammar mistakes that are surely here. Once this story is done I'll do an overhaul editing with this one and Midnight Coffee hopefully. If I manage to find the time for the upcoming high school year on my end. Hope you enjoyed this chapter reguardless~_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _That would be correct since Midnight Coffee is finished this will be the story that I will be updating for the most part. And although as seen the reader can communicate accurately, this will mostly towards the people they actually want to talk to (i can relate way too much to that). Although yes, I like to think the internal dialogue can hold somewhat more of the weight rather than the dialogue. Since I'm writing a reader that mostly communicates through movements and expression in place of the tone of voice. So it's been an interesting experience. I hope that made sense cause I'm rambling at this point- but I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue reading for future updates!_

_**You:** Thank you for reading! Have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!_

 


	4. The Fifth Brings Sir Prise and Miss Fortune

Chapter 4, The Fifth Brings Sir Prise and Miss Fortune.

* * *

 The next day, you were dearly hoping it would be as uneventful as the days before you made the insane decision to go to the ridiculous school of Domino High. On this day you had no usual obligations beyond going to the editor’s office and dropping of your manuscripts. It had been the system yourself, and your editor, Akiyama had worked out when you were still a “blossoming” author. By no means was it usual, mainly due to the fact that literary authors such as yourself emailed the work to and fro these days, but Akiyama worked best when he had something tangible to work with. Alternatively, it calmed your paranoia of ever having to start over from scratch due to the fact that everything you did held a hard copy sans revision, then later post revision. Ergo no data would be lost if there were some sort of unseen issue with servers or such. At least that’s how you thought of it, seeing as how you never actually had been _in_ a server room. None the less, the large pile of papers freshly pulled from your heavy duty printer was no joke, and you needed to get it delivered or face certain doom. Not that Akiyama would commit murder but the man was scary- you were pretty sure he was scarier than Kaiba, given the fact that Akiyama had the keys to your future apartment.

Though you might ask Kaiba about the server room bit if you were feeling brave about it, you heavily doubt that you would. Just because he wasn’t as scary as Akiyama doesn’t mean Kaiba was scary. In fact, to even compare them with each other would reach a whole new level of how scary a person can be. The Doctor was also getting up there in levels of “people you don’t want to piss off for risk of incurring a John Wick level type of revenge upon yourself”.

That man killed over twenty people over a dog, which was fair, but considering that the plot said he was going after a prominent Russian Mafia family _and_ was literally nicknamed “The Boogey Man”, you were going to say that no one wants that kind of chip on their shoulder. A person who can kill three people with a pencil was no joke. A person who’s hand gun accuracy _is that high_ is also not someone you should piss off.

Just don’t piss of John Wick- in general.

Shaking your head, you snapped yourself out of your John Wick musings to head out. The stack of papers that probably weighed a little more than ten pounds sagged slightly in its manila folder that was currently in your backpack.

You walked out of your room, peeking into the garage to see if your driver was there.

Jae was a new member of the staff, technically hired for your use but overall she was the driver and designated “guardian” should it ever be required.

_“Hey Boss,”_ Jae signed, she also happened to be deaf.

_“Hello,”_ You signed back. “ _Can you take me to the Editing office?”_

_“Sure no problem.”_

At that, the two of you were quickly off.

You sighed happily as you stepped off the car, near the entrance of the Editing office. Turning back lack minute to exchange a wave with Jae before moving forward, walking inside. You were dressed inauspiciously, a relatively thin dark colored long sleeved shirt hung over your frame. Baggy as it was wrapped around yourself, a black mask covered the lower half of your mask while your hair was tucked under a beanie. Your legs were clad in loose jeans while sneakers squeaked on the polished cream white floor.

A breeze of cool air greeted you as you walked inside closed doors, to which you sighed to, a more comfortable temperature than outside. With that, you waved to the different employees of the ground floor while you made your way to the elevator. Walking in as it opened.

“WAIT! WAIT! HOLD THE DOOR PLEASE!”   

Blinking, you stretched out a hand to block the elevator doors from closing. Watching as a familiar Burnette burst through the doors clad in a familiar coat and scarf. Green eyes blinking at you before they seemed to register your presence while you registered his familiar face around the same time.

Using one hand to wave another went to your phone to quickly type with deft fingers across the smooth screen, _“Hello Onodera-san.”_

A bright grin broke out while his fingers moved, if a bit clumsily. Sort of the equivalent of having a strong accent you supposed, if you were to compare it to a spoken language.

_“Hello Arata-san.”_

You nearly grinned wider behind your mask as he reminded you of your pen name, putting your phone away you signed back, slowly for his benefit. _“You learned to sign?”_

_“A little bit,”_ He signed, then switched to speak. “I only learned a little, unfortunately.”

_“It’s okay,”_ You signed, once again slow before pulling out your phone again just in case you spoke some words that the Shojo manga editor hadn’t learned yet. _“The point is you tried to learn, and for that I thank you.”_

The two of you hadn’t noticed when the elevator opened to show a hand casually smack Onodera behind the head, said hand being attached to a dark haired individual with piercing eyes showing behind black frame glasses.

“If you have time to chat you have time to work.”

Onodera scowled in disbelief before responding back angrily with, “I was _going_ to work you-“

Mentally chuckling at the familiar exchange between the two editors of the Shojo department, you interrupted halfway through Onodera’s angry exclamation, _“Hello Takano-san.”_

“Hello Arata-san, sorry if this idiot is bothering you,” Takano said, a familiar edge in his voice. You writer senses had repeatedly told you that the two bantering editors were a thing, but you had never addressed it. Honestly, it made sense and sometimes you would find yourself listening to a complaining Onodera of how Takano was an idiot and not able to let go of the past, all while looking a bit fond despite his outer demeanor. Though you would admit that the two of them did make quite the striking couple, you hoped they _were_ actually a thing. You even heard rumors that the two infamous editors were living in the same apartment complex, truly, it was a plot absolutely _meant_ for romance.

 “Do you want this?”

You blinked out of your musings as a large white rabbit with wings was presented before you, you vaguely recognized it as the mascot of one of the bookstores you frequented to look at the new manga, Tinkle. Belatedly you noted that it was the same bookstore you had taken Kaiba to during that one stint. You tilted your head but slid your phone into your pocket as you stretched your arms to take on the large rabbit.

Takano slowly let it go, letting your arms catch the sides before you felt a hand patting your head.

“Good, you look more like the kid you are.”

You kicked his shins for that, smiling as Onodera laughed at him while he cursed and attempted to rub the pain off the injured body part.

“Seriously though Arata-san, you’re fine right? High School is ending for you soon,” Onodera asked, concerned.

Lacking the current ability to communicate with any sort of exact comprehension, you shrugged. Making a so-so motion with one hand that stuck out from under the arms of the fluffy mascot before jabbing a thumb behind your back to the best of your ability, then pointing at the elevator buttons.

Takano made a face, “Oh right, you have that fucker Akiyama.”

“Takano-san!”

Your shoulders shook with your mental laughter as you nodded from behind the rabbit while the two editors stepped out, leaving you alone with the elevator.

“Just pout kid, then Akiyama won’t-“

“You know where to go right Arata-san? Right, Takano-san let’s go we need to go over the proposal before-“

At that, the elevator door closed, the level of your destination glowing among the elevator buttons.

* * *

 

A couple minutes later you were released onto the floor of the literature department, walking through the floors until you stared bewildered at the scene before you.

Editors left and right were franticly going back and forth on telephones, you vaguely recognized Yokozawa and Kirishima go back and forth while your own editor was franticly giving out orders. Which didn’t make sense because you were pretty sure Kirishima was an editor for the fucking _Shonen magazine_ department, at least Yokozawa was in the sales department because that meant his presence made sense.

Still, the first and foremost question that rung in your mind was, _What the fuck is going on?_

Deciding to ignore the two of what were the angriest, scariest people of the entire shitting _Publishing Office_ that happened to be in the _same fucking place,_ you opted to go for the easier going of the two as Yokozawa and Akiyama proceeded to yell at _each other._ Fucking hell you were pretty sure that the others were _crying_ as people tried to avoid getting involved in whatever shit show conflict happened to cause such a reaction out of the two of them.

You tapped Kirishima’s arm, shifting your expression to one of confusion as he turned to look at you.

“Nice rabbit Arata-san,” Kirishima commented before turning to the two arguing noirettes. “the two hot heads of Marukawa are currently duking it out whose fault it is.”

You frowned.

“Your books were sold out everywhere when we released it just two days ago.”

Your eyebrows lifted in surprise, which yes, you knew that your newest book was going to be released that day but you hadn’t attended due to school. Honestly, in all the chaos with having to spend time with Kaiba out of school, you had forgotten.

“And we were asked for a movie deal.”

At that choked and looked back at him while he was smiling proudly, reaching up to ruffle your hair.

You kicked him in the shin for that too, but more out of reflex.

You tilted your head at him as he bent down with a hiss.

“Kaiba Corp asked for a movie deal in a joint operation to make the movie, we already had some contacts with them because of the friendship you have with Pegasus, but we honestly didn’t expect to be hit with two things at the same time. We received the email yesterday, they want to make your series into a movie,” He explained, rubbing the kicked shin as he did so before looking up at you.

_Holy shit._

It appeared your face told as much as he laughed, “It’s your hard work Arata-san, but yeah. It was a little more than unexpected. We even got a call from Kaiba this morning when he said you agreed- which makes me curious Arata-san. _Do_ you know Mr. Kaiba?”

_That sneaky fucker-_

You felt a strong vibration in your phone, curious, you held out your arms for Kirishima to take the rabbit before you dug for your phone. Pulling it out to reveal a text from an unknown number.

**_Just agree already._ **

Son of a fucking shit. 

**_Turn around._ **

You turned to see people gawking in shock as they scrambled to look busier than they actually were, Kaiba stood there, casually looking too fucking handsome in his stupid ass preference for a BEWD art palette in his white suit with blue tie. Phone in his hand while he looked at you, raising an eye brow. It overall exuded the expression of “holier than thou” and served to be frustratingly attractive ( _fucking **shit** man, that wasn’t fair_ ) and very punchable. Which you would have done if not: a) you were in danger of being in trouble with both Yokozawa _and_ Akiyama if you did b) he was too fucking tall for it c) you had an armful of stuffed bunny, and d) you would have to face him the next day during school and _hell no_ were you giving up your seat.

He then proceeded to type without looking at his phone ( _fucking arrogant shitty dipshit fucker of a show off-_ ), which you paused to look at as the message was delivered.

**_I get what I want._ **

“Mr. Kaiba?!”

You turned to see Akiyama and Yokozawa briefly pulling out of their argument to gawk at the man before turning to you with glaring eyes as if it was your fault.

At that, tired of this shit and just straight up angrily stupid because of the fact that not only was your sense of normalcy shattered to a ridiculous _fanfiction._ You lifted your middle finger on both hands, pointed it to Yokozawa _and_ Akiyama. Then turned to Kaiba with both. With that, you slid your phone into your pocket before allowing your hands to shift into more obscene curses in every language that you knew in Sign. Which was quite extensive. The other employees of the office were in the process of gawking, being terrified at the two hot heads, and being terrified of _you_ as you continued to make obscene gestures. Some of which were painfully obvious what they were as you presented him with a middle finger, pointed at Kaiba, made two v’s with your pointer and middle finger on both hands, tapped them together on the underside, then lifted up one hand to show three fingers. Your thumb holding down your pointer while letting the others stick up, then switched those fingers to be another “V” with your thumb in the middle.

Akiyama, having been versed in sign due to his work relation to you, vaguely registered the movements translated as you saying, _“Fuck you, you fucking fuck”_ in ASL.

Kaiba, meanwhile just casually put his phone back and signed back.

_“Fuck you too.”_

You scowled, ripping your mask off to stuff into your pocket before turning to him with full scowl and bared teeth. Signing relentlessly and quickly.

_“You’re a fucking asshole you cheeky shit head. I take back what I said to Mokuba you-“_

Kaiba kept a smirk on his face as your language grew extensively more morbid and offensive, much to your frustration.

_“You like the rabbit?”_ Kaiba signed, blinking you out of your anger.

_Rabbit?_ You turned to the rabbit before turning your head so fast your neck popped. Making mostly everyone within the department wince, including Yokozawa and Kirishima, but excluding Akiyama. Hilariously enough, he had been treated to this angry version of you before when someone told you that your books were better than most of the fictional work in the world. To which you angrily ranted in sign (some of which he had recognized) to him. Trying to pull you out of this anger only seemed to make things worse, and despite what most of the editing department thought him to be terrifying (or an asshole, he mentally noted thinking of Takano), he would argue that you were in fact, scarier. Much to your disagreement when he had told you this, but to be fair to him, when you were angry you didn’t actually register all the things you did.

It was always the quiet ones with the long fuse that were attached to a bigger bomb.

You scowled at him, signing, while mentally contemplating the exact probability of getting Yokozawa and Onodera to help you plan Takano’s murder that fucking _snake,_ “ _I’m not giving him back.”_

_“Fine."_

You rolled your eyes, at his smug tone, hands moving before you thought the sentence through,  _"Just fuck me sideways already why don't you?"_

You didn't notice his adam's apple bob as his face grew blank for the smallest of seconds as you turned around and huffed, ready to bolt out the door within the next few minutes as you ignored Akiyama's pleads for you to,  _"Calm the fuck down holy shit-"._

* * *

A few minutes later and after some wrangling from Akiyama, Kirishima, Takano, Onodera, Yokozawa, _and_ Kisa. You were seated in a conference office facing Kaiba, with Akiyama and Yokozawa to your left and right side. Kisa, having been the final straw in herding you into a private room with Kaiba as Kisa generally had that calming effect on most people with his young looking face. Much to his stress, as said man happened to be thirty years old. Though you suspected Akiyama and Yokozawa's positions to be mainly so that they would be the first in your way if you tried to reach over the stupid table and choke the fucker to the front of you. 

While Kaiba and the three discussed things, you simply glared at Kaiba. Holding the stupid rabbit that you knew now was off color when you realized that he was different from the usual mascot.

_Asshole._

Then as you looked down to stare at the table, you noticed a weird rhythm in the form of taps. The source of which came from Kaiba himself in a seemingly random manner as his long fingers (you refused to go any further into detail with that bit for fear of activating your more...vivid and crude imagination) drummed against the artificial wooden table. 

At first, your first thought was _what the fuck,_ because of the _O great and powerful Kaiba? Fidgeting? Surely it cannot be!_ Before you realized that it was Morse code. The fuck- you thought you were one of the few teens who were into Morse code these days, which was a bit of a side effect from reading 39 Clues, but what the _fuck_ ever.

_“S.T.O.P.P.O.U.T.I.N.G.”_

Your hands twitched into the bird before relaxing again, your hand that was resting on the table tapping back.

_“F.U.C.K.Y.O.U.”_

You breathed through your nose before tapping again, “ _W.H.Y.?”_

You vaguely heard Kaiba end the conversation before turning to you and signing.

_“Because I want a movie out of your book.”_

You frowned, thinking about it objectively for a bit and switching gears in your mind. Removing yourself from thinking of how the jackass went ahead and practically demanded a movie and thinking of as if _you_ weren't the one who was currently involved in this deal that you had been healthily and reasonably suspicious of, _“Book to movie renditions don’t usually go well in some cases.”_

_“Well, if you have a better idea then by all means,”_ He signed back, expression openly mocking. Though you were pretty sure you were the only one in the room who could tell. _“Do share with the class.”_

You hummed mentally, ignoring his mocking before signing, _“Series- you wanted a movie but I think my book does better for episodes. Or you can have the movie as the prologue and then release a series of episodes after on television and online services. Increase popularity and such while adding to a hopefully ravenous potential fan base. I have a couple of chapters that I wrote before the was written in case I ever wanted to do a prequel but I think it would be good if you want a movie.”_

Then you mentally recounted the quick summary of those notes within your mind, _“It would relate to the Knights of Atlantis series though, it’s the unofficial prequel to the series but there’s a blank spot in between the two where the notes are.”_

Akiyama and Yokozawa vaguely felt like outsiders as the two of you talked in sign language, then you tilted towards them, a complete 180 from the angry author they had seen outside this office and signing excitedly in rapid sign. Fast enough that Akiyama couldn’t understand, and he had learned and practiced sign in the past three years to better understand you without an aid. It also didn’t help that you happened to have a huge white rabbit in front of you.

A hand gripped your wrist which you turned confused to Kaiba, who was the person who was gripping said wrist.

“You’re too fast,” He said out loud apparently attitude shifting due to the fact that the conversation was no longer private and they were talking business.

You blinked before nodding, then you whipped out a laptop and rapidly started typing in rapid speed.

Akiyama was used to your typing speed and endurance, though he couldn’t help but preen smugly as Yokozawa and Kaiba slightly gaped at your speed. Though admittedly Kaiba was doing a better job at hiding it with the blank expression, his wide eyes didn’t leave much else to conclude.

Then you turned the laptop for them to read.

Quickly reading through it, Akiyama nodded in approval, “It’s a good idea, I still have the hard copy of your notes when you were developing the story line for the series.”

“But it still needs to be fabricated, not just on notes,” Yokozawa said, “we need a separate team to interpret the notes and turn it into a script.”

“But Arata-san can quickly look over it and see if it can be approved to be a part of the universe,” Akiyama interjected. “It can even be turned into a manga to expand the plausible demographic.”

Akiyama turned as you tapped his arm, signing, _“Might be too quick. Wait till movie is finished and critiqued before moving on to making a manga.”_

“True,” Yokozawa agreed after Akiyama translated. “The success lies with how well it’s received with the people. If we start developing before the movie is finished, it might not do well. If we do it too late, we may not be able to ride the wave of popularity. When the movie is critiqued we can start, working towards a manga.”

_“Also include a sneak peak of the manga in DVD release, promoting both if it does work out,”_ You signed, which Akiyama once again translated. To the agreement of Kaiba and Yokozawa.

* * *

After a bit of a back and forth, a plan was finished and set. Meanwhile, you walked out, giant rabbit in your arms and ready to head to the bus.

“Where are you going?”

You glared at him from behind the rabbit, you stretched out your hands, _“Just because I helped doesn’t mean I agreed. You do what you want and we’re fine, but I won’t have your pity.”_

Kaiba raised a condescending eyebrow at you, “Who said anything about pity? The only things I do, I do for myself. And what I want is the book turned into a movie. If you have issues with it, they’re yours. Not mine.”

From your mouth came a scoffing sound that scratched the back of your throat, rolling your eyes as you shook your head and moved to turn the other way- _any_ way. As long as it was far from Mr. Blue Eyed and Stupidly Gorgeous.

“Mokuba wants to have dinner.”

You paused mid step before turning back at him with a deep scowl. Bottom lip in a stiff formation to convey your mood with the billionaire at the moments. Feelings of which were accented with various curse words.

“You _are_ coming.”

Huffing, your hands stretched out, _“I don’t **have** to come with you.” _

“And you’re willing to disappoint Mokuba?”

You scowled deeper.

* * *

You grinned painfully at the excited young man sitting beside you as Kaiba sat in front of you. Listening to Mokuba tell you excitedly how much he enjoyed your books. Which was heartwarming, it really was, but at the moment your annoyance to his older brother currently outweighed any heart melting that might have been happening. No fault of Mokuba’s of course, the blame was _all_ on the elder, one and only, Seto Kaiba.

Who was smirking as he silently ate his fillet.

Seriously, why the hell did you think he was a mature, decent person in real life? The simple fact that you _had_ astounded you to no end. Though, later you would admit that Mokuba’s attitude in life played a large part in your opinion of the man. No stuck up jerk could raise a younger brother to be as happy and as sassy as the black haired child before you- who, despite your attempts, understood that there was currently tension between yourself and his older brother. Though you didn’t think that the younger man realized you knew. Spending time with the brothers, they shared similar quirks, with Kaiba, he always held a certain light in his eyes when he realized something about the situation. Mokuba was similar in that instance, except in this case he was trying to defuse the tension. With practice, you noted. Which only made you wonder how often this sort of thing happened to the two, inviting reluctant authors to dinner.

“So big brother told me the movie was green-lighted? It’s really happening?”

You nodded, signing a relatively condensed version of what was planned for the movie, but not everything. As much of a jerk his older brother was, Mokuba didn’t deserve to be spoiled of anything he might enjoy.

And then your stomach growled.

Appalled, you mentally recounted your day only to mentally smack yourself in the face. You didn’t always eat breakfast but you tried to keep to a relatively regular eating schedule since you had a habit of forgetting to eat at times. It was common when you were writing a book and it wasn’t until Takano pointed out that you looked thin did you realize your habit. It was fixed with some monitoring, which is the main reason your stomach was growling, but sometimes you did forget.

“Mokuba, how about let our guest eat their food?” Kaiba interjected with a carefully blank tone of voice. Which raised some alarms in you, but you realize that it was probably obvious to Kaiba. As Kaiba and yourself were in the office from the near morning all the way to the evening.

There was also the small fact that you couldn’t eat and talk at the same time, but you willfully ignored the little voice mocking you. Due to the fact that it sounded a lot like your parents.

“Right! Sorry, sorry. Let’s eat,” Mokuba apologized while you nodded, setting a single hand on his arm before moving to your food. A silence was up in the air as ceramics clanged together with stainless steel. The mood of the restaurant was calm, food was being eaten. Guests were keeping to their own conversations, though you suspected they were curious about you being the guest of the famous Seto and Mokuba Kaiba.

Your meal ended as you placed the two utensils together to the side, your mental narration informing you that this was the way to silently bring the compliments to the chef- though you didn’t really know if anyone actually used this technique anymore. From the looks of things, Kaiba paid no mind to it so it was probably not often used.

Then he did the same thing, much to your surprise.

Conversations continued, you occasionally humored Mokuba by telling him certain facts of the book that you didn’t tell others. Then inwardly laughed as Mokuba brought out the puppy eyes as the two of you sat across from each other in the Kaiba limo while bringing out a pile of hardcover books and a permanent marker. Which of course, you signed. Not like anyone could stand a chance to those puppy eyes, as you heard the soft snort coming from the older Kaiba next to you when Mokuba asked you to sign them. Politely, might you add, with no shame in the use of ‘please’s and ‘cherry on top’s.

Overall, surprisingly, you had a good time. A great time even, more than you had for a while.

_“He’s a really great kid,”_ You signed to Kaiba, a little difficult since he was sitting next to you, but you managed. With Mokuba snoring softly in front of you, cheek pressed into the side of the window.

“I’m a lucky brother,” he softly said.

In the air, there was a series of huffs that Kaiba jarringly realized were coming from you as your expression was soft and overall happy, humored by a joke that he apparently didn’t realize he made.

_“He’s as lucky as you are then,”_ You signed.

Kaiba didn’t say anything but turned away to stare at the window, apparently done with emotions for the day. You had no issues, but a soft smile was stretched across your face as you looked fondly at the back of the Burnette’s head. His bouncing knee revealing his slight nervousness of the situation overall. Which was fine, you understood.

Kaiba was a man who didn’t find emotions easy, and you would let him be. Just this once, if only because he actually showed you a good time. Perhaps as an apology for jumping the movie deal without your consent. It was a big thing for you, and not to be taken lightly, which was why you had gotten so pissed. Not only would you balance book releases, but you had scripts to monitor and had to be willing to be on call all the time to be referenced to if needed. Lest you risk slowing down development for the movie-to-be. A lot of planning and consultation took place in those few hours in that office, which would have normally taken years if your life wasn’t a fanfiction. Because you knew that if you hadn’t met Kaiba in person, this wouldn’t have happened. You were doubtful you were even going to receive an offer like this within the next few _years._ Yet Kaiba came barreling into your life like a dragon in a china shop and just- started things. For what reason- you didn’t know.

But when it was all said and done, you were actually happy about it. You were getting through life, muteness and all.

* * *

Kaiba stood awkwardly outside the gates of the house you lived in, and you were standing awkwardly. An armful of plush rabbit.

_“I’ll see you at school?”_ You signed.

Kaiba nodded, strangely stiffer than when you had first seen him at school. Though it amused you, you chose not to comment on it. 

With that you turned around, walking and disappearing to the side door that you came out of earlier that day.

Kaiba turned back to the limo, ordering the drive further up to his own manor. Heart strangely hammering in his chest.

* * *

You were oddly giddy as you walked through the marble halls, mind elsewhere as you didn’t realize the lighted living room. Your name called.

You stilled, turning to face the couple sitting on the leather couch.

“So,” There was a slight drawl to the female voice that was as condescending as you remembered. “You managed to make friends with _Kaiba.”_

Your face drained of color as you schooled your features into blank.

* * *

A/n: Heh. This was relatively easy, and now the conflict is revealed. Slightly. More to come in what probably will be next week's chapter. (I've planned it out and everything though I haven't exactly planned what will go where- but it's all written down.) Also if anyone could get the pretty  _glaring_ references, I'm throwing you a virtual Blue Eyes White Dragon Plush because I'm the kind of person who likes cheesy romance involving two men. Or two women. Hell, anything that's not common in pop culture. I have a soft spot for 'em. (Like that one movie where a sugar plum fairy dancer gets stuck in an elevator with a handsome gentleman and they kiss randomly? It's a Christmas movie but I'm strangely fond of it) And this particular anime has always been the anime where if I ever was upset, I just watch this series and i'm not upset anymore. It helps a lot with my occasional depression episodes and anxiety, mostly because I enjoy it so much that I tend to forget a little bit that I'm feeling down. So this show and every other thing that's helped me cheer up deserve some pretty serious praise. Like One Piece. Luffy is my favorite the adorable idiot. Or Tony Stark, who I can relate to on so many levels. Again- I'm just feeling really feels-y right now, and Kaiba's being strangely quiet about it. Maybe secretly he knows I need to splat my feelings on something that's not my own head. 

Thanks buddy. 

...Also a virtual hug for everyone. Because you guys deserve it and I like hugs, despite my occasional aversion to them due to personal space being a thing I usually am concerned about and I'm also really bad at asking for hugs. So- yeah. Hugs. 

**_Dedications to:_ **

**_LilKitten:_ ** _Well, here you go. Another thing to squeal at, and hopefully your reaction remains similar if not the same. (And hopefully, your flatmates understand too) But yes, while Grammarly is helpful, like Siri, it does not hold the key to correct my errors. Though admittedly it_ **_is_ ** _a pretty damn good crutch. Thanks for reading~_

**_Hibiscus Mint:_ ** _The inspiration for that question actually came when I was scrolling through Tumblr low-key stalking one of my favorite authors (whom is a Kaiba reader insert writer and has fic that seems to have a touch of **Black Magic**  //wink wink nudge nudge//. Because despite myself owning a Tumblr account, I don't really post anything. Just reblog, for the most part. I'm working on a writing one, though I honestly don't really post much content. Thank you for the encouragement as well, honestly, I like this story marginally better than Midnight Coffee (probably because I'm writing this during Summer break) but I am somewhat occasionally discouraged by how much attention it's been getting compared to Midnight Coffee. Though it's reasonable because not only is Midnight Coffee finished, it was up to twenty plus chapters. So I attempt to reason with myself that it's simply because it's been out there longer. I'm glad you like the quirks of my characters as I do like to make them at the very least-  **slightly** memorable, even if they're just there for plot's sake. None the less, thank you for reading~_

_**Sakuchwan:** Thank you so much, I always wondered what it would be like to have a reader that is for the most part, non verbal. So much reader inserts with Kaiba usually have the reader outsassing/not having any of Kabia's shit verbally. Not that it's bad, there are literally  **tons and tons** of amazing work that involve readers taking none of Kaiba's shit. But with this reader I wanted to do it a little bit different in which the reader lacks certain cues to what they're actually feeling, which is tone of voice. They still have the tone in terms of choice of words, but like demonstrated, it's only when the reader is emotional enough to not pay attention. I like to think that Kaiba is sort of confused on how to interact with the reader because what he's getting is confusing to what the reader is presenting, as he himself is rather experienced in manipulating himself to get what he wants. Thus //makes hand motions to chapter// this event. I'll get more into depth of why Kaiba's jumping the gun here in future chapters since the past few have been mostly on the Reader's side of things, so I hope you'll stick with me through then. Also thank you for liking interactions between everyone, especially Kaiba. As I have difficulty writing him down due to the fact that admittedly, Kaiba and I are of similar mind. If I were a rich, cardgame obsessed, overprotective, prideful, instinctual, elder sibling with a pretty trauma inducing background- I would probably turn out the same as Kaiba. Which is thus why I relate to him more than I do Yugi for the most part. And I sort of have this love/hate relationship with the guy. I adore him, but I also want to smack him. It's sort of developed into this thing where I can hear him in my head and occasionally we have mental spats and my friend occasionally will draw him in my suspects without my knowledge and bear witness to me making a face at it while also making faces as I argue with Kaiba. Call it a writer's quirk if you will, but that's usually how I read fanfiction. Picturing myself as a ghost in this situation and imagining what I would do and what could possibly happen if I do it before following what the writer says will happen, which is why I enjoy it so much. Sort of gives you a sense of control over an uncontrollable thing- which I'm not sure if I share this little quirk with anyone else, but it's the main reason I write. Thus, it sort of gives me issues when writing as the reader because I feel that I make them similar to each other in a few ways, which always tends worry me. So thank you for enjoying it, and sorry if this ramble was way long but I usually type/write with how I speak (hence the grammar mistakes and relatively fast typing speed). _

**_To_ ** _**you, the Reader:** Thanks for reading, and have an awesome morning/day/afternoon/evening/night! _

 

 


	5. The Sixth Brings Action

Chapter 5, The Sixth Brings Action 

* * *

Kaiba starred hard into the inked blots that made up your signature in the worn book in his hands.

He had always assumed there were hidden depths, though you were very much an annoyance during class, there was always a sense of _wrong_ that he would pick up occasionally. Manipulated feelings, carefully crafted masks, they were all things that Kaiba was more than familiar with during his tenure as Kaiba Corp’s CEO. To have it in a fellow classmate was slightly…unnerving.

He knew as a fact that his childhood was not the most conventional of sense, he sacrificed what he needed for Mokuba and there isn’t one moment from that _hell_ that he would change if it meant that Mokuba didn’t get what he deserved. He had accepted that, and fully accepted the fact that there will _never_ be a person who would understand. The circumstance on its own was near fantastical, a true fairy tale in a sense.

And then there came you.

An odd student who showed up to class one day, not caring in particular that you had been placed in the seat greatly sought after by many within the school. He fully expected some idiotic attempt of forging a friendship with him, and had been fully prepared to reject such an absurd proposal with extreme prejudice. Except that you didn’t.

A flash of recognition in your eyes informed him that at the very least, you knew who he was. Yet you treated him as if he were a stranger on the street. Only a warm undercurrent of understanding within your actions giving away something he wasn’t sure you recognized. It was once said that there were times where victims of the same circumstance recognized each other, he wasn’t sure whether this was bullshit- but it seemed to be exactly what had happened with you. You treated him as if the two of you were equals, but you never extended a hand of friendship, an offer to listen if needed. You simply acknowledged his presence and let him be.

This thought stayed with him for the majority of class, filing it away as something interesting, but not necessarily worth getting into. He didn’t need _friends_ and was perfectly find with you minding your own damn business.

Then there was that event with the school psychologist and Asaka. He fully expected you to either defend yourself or meekly walk away, which you did. However it was far from submissive. There was an air around you that held fury and disgust, not out of the insults Asaka had stupidly thrown your way, but of the sheer fact that you were apparently involved. What bothered him wasn’t that you simply ignored insults either, the bland expression on your face and the ease you had telling him to wave off the mention of _trauma._ There was a difference between not wanting to talk about it, and being _used to it._

It was difficult to pinpoint why it rubbed Kaiba the wrong way but Dr. Fujino’s meddling had helped somewhat as he watched you reluctantly go with him back home. The way you eyed your home like you were contemplating the best way to get in without being seen, not even bothering to hide it as you decided to go through the side and not the front like he had expected. He noticed you didn’t even particularly care he watched. Then there was the outrage from earlier.

Really he had only done that to get a rise out of you, but it gave him more information compared to when he was trying to figure you out during school. It showed your fury when the editors briefly accused you of being the cause of their troubles (at the mere mention he had seen both employees wince in what was apparently their mistake). It showed that you were prickly about accepting help from others, your irritation towards him as you thought he had done it just to make you owe a favor. Anger clouding judgment as he watched you register his words, saw the reason flittering behind your eyes before you breathed and willed yourself into something slightly more civil. Rationalizing before getting yourself lost in conversations with Mokuba, and _only_ reverting back to your previous attitude towards him once he made it clear that he was doing it for himself alone. As if you were greatly offended by anything resembling pity. It made sense, even Kaiba couldn't really make a good argument on why he had decided to invest in it. Had you pursued the issue he was sure that you would find holes in his reasoning. 

A weight had slipped off you when he told you it was for himself, and he wasn’t sure how to rationalize the brief look of relief that came over your features as you left. Other than the fact that it clearly had something to do with pity, but not quite pride. An interesting fact that Kaiba found himself mulling over. 

Granted, he had better things to do than but into the life of a classmate, but at this point, his company was doing well and he had little else to do during the school year. Your case was proving to be a much better entertainment than just the dismal classwork that came with the now irrelevant classes.

* * *

 

The next morning on the beginning of the week, he noticed a massive change.

He had seen you once, walking quickly through the halls way and just barely avoiding smacking into fellow students as you walked like the devil was on your tail. You seemed distracted but focused in a strange contradictory way as you side stepped and breezed past people. For the most part, he dismissed it and made his way to his classroom.

When he got to his seat, he half expected you to be beside him. Yet you weren’t.

Instead, you were in the far back of the room, carefully behind several of the people Kaiba didn’t like interacting with. Mainly the blonde mutt of Yugi’s idiotic friendship circle. You were quiet, and resolutely not looking in any within the classroom. Your cheek was bent slightly as he suspected you were chewing on it, your knees jumping up and down with unease. Your fingers twirled the stainless steel barrel of your pencil to and fro your hand, a notebook opened but remained unfilled as you seemed to be doing your best to distract yourself to no avail.

Then the bell rang, class started, and he found himself glaring away the nervous girl who was about to take your seat, as well as anyone else who tried.

* * *

 

This avoidance continued throughout the day, much to his annoyance. He expected you to wait behind everyone else once English was finished for lunch, but he found himself staring as you practically teleported from the back of the room (once again avoiding your previous seat, much to his annoyance) and somehow managed to get yourself out _first_ during the lunch rush.

He scowled, shoving his things back in his bag before stomping over, glaring at anyone and everyone who would get in his way.

When he got to the library, you weren’t there- and so he sped off. Angry strides shoving away students with little concern as he strode over to the office of Dr. Fujino.

“Kaiba? What are you doing here?” The Doctor said, frowning behind black glasses. Nothing but serious in the face of these matters.

Scowling, he explained your abnormal behavior. Recounting events from yesterday to now, though he kept some things to himself. Such as the look of fear you gave him when you briefly met eyes with him.

Frowning, the Doctor leaned back in her leather chair, glasses slipping down to her nose as she finished listening and pursed her lips, “On any other student- I would have said that avoiding you after those events would be reasonable.”

Her frown deepened, “But considering who exactly is involved in this- this is far from reasonable.”

She sat straighter, staring at Kaiba in challenge before relaxing at his glare, “I am not allowed to disclose any and all information concerning your friend Kaiba. You more than anyone understand what sort of confidentiality agreement I am bound to. Shit- I’ve been trying to work with _your_ ass ever since you got here.”

Kaiba was stiff, but it was true. The circumstances of his childhood and his actions after had prompted him to seek…professional help once he exactly realized what he was doing- mostly due to Mokuba having stepped up and be the reasonable one, even going as far to recruit Yugi in his efforts to get Kaiba to realize that he was spending millions of American dollars to build _an elevator to space_ to _duel a dead pharaoh._ In the end, going through with it gave him closure, but Mokuba and Yugi insisted anyway. Forcing him to actually go to a professional, much to the school psychologist’s pleasure once she caught wind of it.

“So while I’m not allowed to disclose specifics, I might be able to say that Yugi will be a big asset in figuring out what the hell happened,” She said quietly. “And I _might_ be allowed to say, that your friend is in the same circumstance you were- _slightly._ You can sure as hell say it isn’t the _same._ But it’s _similar.”_

Kaiba took a moment to process those words before nodding, turning around to exit the office.

“Kaiba.”

He turned around slightly, pausing as he was just inches from opening the door and taking his leave.

She told Kaiba your full name before adding, “Good luck, and be careful about how you act. Your aid your attempting to offer can come across as pity if you don't do this right. ”  _and that would be a colossal mistake if you are trying to help,_ is what was left unsaid. 

Giving her a brief nod, Kaiba turned and left with a slam of the door. 

Slumping forward, Dr. Fujino allowed her head to fall into hands as she quietly cursed, hoping that the situation would resolve. She was sure Kaiba would make sure it is, he had seemed oddly attached to you at any rate. The entire school knew that he was intelligent beyond comprehension and a stubbornness to match. Though she only hoped that the boy's temper was controlled. At this rate, and knowing the plausible routes Kaiba could take, you were going to try your hardest to be the most difficult person in existence. Which means pissing of Kaiba like no tomorrow, and the kid was  _infamous_ for that short temper of his. Helping him could either be the best or the worst, but she was betting on the fact that Kaiba didn't like anyone messing with his stuff. As fucked up as that sounded. 

She honestly hoped that he would be able to make things better for you.

* * *

Spotting a familiar tricolor and ridiculous hair style, Kaiba walked straight for it. Ignoring people or making sure they get out of his way as he passed until he found himself shoving Katsuya out of his way. Ignoring the blonde’s jeers.

“We need to talk,” He stated quietly.

Yugi looked up and nodded, eyebrows scrunched in worry as he excused himself from their group and followed Kaiba to a less populated place. Turning around to face Kaiba.

“You’ve noticed have you?”

Yugi nodded, looking the slightest bit pained, “I don’t know exactly what happened. But I’m pretty sure it’s nothing good.

“Tell me what you know.”

And so Yugi talked, and the more Yugi talked, the more pieces of the puzzle began to fit in place as Kaiba listened.

* * *

You grunted as you shoved yourself into the turtle store, the rain outside was pouring, but you couldn’t stand to be inside the mansion anymore. It was very close to driving you up the walls and tearing down expensive drapes for the sake of amusement alone.

The shop was relatively quiet, packs of cards glistened from stands as you awkwardly stood, unsure of what to do. Your feet ached from walking all the way here, your beat up sweater was soaked all the way through. Frankly you didn’t want to move due to the fact that you were probably creating a puddle just from standing.

“Are you okay?”

You looked up, spotting the odd hairstyle and tri-colored hair first before wetting your chapped lips, you felt your mouth opening. Then close, looking down as splotches of red began to creep up from your neck as you realized you couldn’t even tell the poor guy “sorry for the mess”.

He didn’t seem to mind though as he simply stepped behind the counter and grabbed a towel, presenting it to you with a gentle smile. You smiled back, though it translated a little grimly as you peeled off the hood of your sweater. Patting yourself down and attempted to peel the sweater from your body.

It came off with a wet _slop_ as you folded the wet article in your arms, continuing to use the towel to dry yourself off while you thanked your logic for demanding you buy waterproof boots.

You folded the towel, presenting it to the young man with a small, more relaxed smile as the cold began to seep away. The young man smiled back, taking the towel and going back to set it aside.

“You look like you had a long day, I’m Muto by the way. Yugi Muto. You can call me Yugi though.”

You nodded, smiling again as you bowed your head before reaching into a side bag that had been tucked under your shirt and pulling out a cheap notebook. Writing down before showing it to Yugi.

 _“Hello, sorry for the mess. I walked here cause I wanted to get a deck?”_ You had written, introducing yourself on the same page.

“Ah, no problem. Lots of people come out here, why don’t I show you my deck?”

And so your first friendship began, slowly you began to feel warm inside as you listened to the soft spoken explanations Yugi gave. Occasionally answering your written down pauses in between. The two of you exchanged questions and answers, and until then, Yugi got up from the stool he had settled himself in to explain the game. Time seemed to pass unbelievably quickly as you listened to Yugi’s passionate, but soft voice.

“Let me get Grandpa, he’ll explain some better than I can.”

You only nodded, contemplating strategies in your head as you performed a mental mock duel. You couldn’t do much of anything, but what you could do felt fun. You hadn’t noticed until Yugi’s grandfather was right in front of you.

One thing led to another as the three of you talked and the elder Muto insisted that your deck was on the house, despite your hastily written protests. Dark proceed to reign in Domino City, and looked at the clock before mentally sighing.

You reached the notebook again, Yugi pausing to see what you had written.

 _“Sorry, have to go now,”_ You looked at him before pressing your lips together and writing. _“Would it be too much to ask to have you keep it for me? My parents do not like games.”_

“Um, sure,” Yugi nodded smiling and waving as you left the store.

“Poor child.”

“Huh?” Yugi turned to his grandfather, who had a sad look in his eyes.

Sugoroku Muto shook his head, “The rain has not let up since this afternoon, the poor child was and is going to be soaked to the bone. And not one phone call from a parent or concerned guardian.”

Yugi turned back to the door, suddenly feeling like next time, he needed to do more.

* * *

 

Kaiba nodded, the picture of what is actually going on starting to make sense. He made a move to go, determined gather more information before confronting you directly. His only delay being that Yugi tugged on the sleeve of his uniform.

“Be careful Kaiba,” Yugi warned softly. “Not just for yourself.”

Kaiba didn’t say anything as he only nodded and walked away.

* * *

Kaiba was in his limo, excused from classes for the day as he hacked through systems.

“Roland, get my lawyer on the line,” Kaiba commanded.

There was a brief moment of quiet before, “What for sir?”

“You’re going to be a father.”

Roland didn’t say anything as he continued driving Mr. Kaiba to his destination, concern slightly swimming at the edge of his tongue before mentally shaking himself. What was Mr. Kaiba’s doings was not for him to decide, but he was curious about the part of being a father.

* * *

Kaiba twitched as he walked across the clean yard and into the side door where he had seen you gone through the night before. He knocked, answered by someone who looked to be a driver, blinking in surprise.

The driver frowned, lifting a finger to point to her ears before moving her hands, _“Mr. Kaiba?”_

“ _Yes,”_ He asked if you were inside.

The driver frowned deeply, looking behind herself to see if there was anyone else there before turning back to Kaiba. Exerting all of his self-control to prevent himself from growling and demanding answers instead of the excersized caution. 

 _“They were worse than usual,”_ She signed quickly. _“more hands on. Boss got slapped for refusing.”_

_“Refusing what?”_

_“Trying to get you close, they want to use you,”_ She signed. _“Boss refused. Didn’t want any part of it, was willing to finally move out of this crazy house.”_

Kaiba forced himself to breathe deep before exhaling, _“What else would they do?”_

 _“Not allowed to speak when they’re around,”_ The Driver pointed at herself and behind her. _“Says it’s to help the boss concentrate. Load of bullshit. I’m the only one who works here all the time though. Think it was the same even before me. Last driver got fired when they found out they were talking to Boss.”_

_“Why didn’t your Boss move out earlier?”_

_“Work permit,”_ She signed. _“Boss can’t work yet. Minor. Had one more year.”_

 _“Would you be willing to testify.”_ Kaiba prepared himself to explain before the driver briskly nodded.

 _“Fuck yes, get boss and get out. Most of stuff here already,”_ She motioned to a bag tucked away into a corner, unconventional but it seemed to blend into its surroundings. “ _Shitty one and shitty two aren’t here yet, some sort of high shit class party. I’ll grab boss for you.”_ The driver came back in exactly fifteen minutes, dragging you with her as she also was holding two other bags with along with you. You only seemed to notice as he stood in front of you, raising an eyebrow.

Eyes widening in surprise, your hands moved, _“What the fuck are you doing here?”_

“Getting you,” Kaiba grabbed your shoulder and pulled forward. Smacking your face into his chest roughly before getting your legs and lifting. Carrying you.

You lifted a middle finger to his face after getting over your surprise. Your mouth making sounds of annoyance as you attempted to swing yourself off of his grip. Digging your elbow into wherever you could reach.

“You do realize that I’m getting you like this so you _don’t_ run away?” He hissed. “Idiot.”

You let out a frustrated huff as you doubled your efforts, yelping as he threw you into the limousine.

Your driver scrambled in after you before he himself followed.

* * *

 

Kaiba stared back at you, uninterested as your hands moved, _“This is fucking **kidnapping.”**_

“You could have gotten out the other side of the door,” He replied.

 _“K.I.D.N.A.P.”_ You spelled out.

“You're being childish.”

Your hands raised in exasperation before going back to what seemed to be your default mode, tucking your hands under your arm and looking away.

“I pieced together what was happening.”

You continued to ignore him.

“You do realize that neglect is equal to abuse.”

You still ignored him.

“I’ve arranged for your guardianship to be transferred to my assistant, Roland.”

Your head snapped to him so fast he could hear a pop coming from your neck, your driver blinked at that.

_“Thought you needed my testimony.”_

Kaiba raised his hands to reply, _“I need your testimony to perform a lawsuit.”_

 _“Transference of guardianship takes fucking **forever,”**_ You signed, looking very much shocked. _“how the fuck?”_

Kaiba smirked, “I’m Seto Kaiba.”

Your expression became deadpanned as you threw up a middle finger at him before continuing, _“We’ve known each other for **four days. Five if you count this one.** Which I don’t.”_

Kaiba simply glared, “You have a script to look over like _hell,_ am I going to wait for some stupid transference of guardianship in order for you to _do your job._ Besides,” Kaiba's glare turned harsher, blue eyes going colder so fast that you found yourself blinking at the sight. Definitely not simple annoyance but cold _fury,_ which you couldn't even _begin_ to rationalize why it confused you and kind of made you feel warm at the same time. “This is your fault anyway.”

 _“HOW?!”_ You signed, throwing your hands up afterward.

“You sat next to me, _do you know how many people tried to take your seat during class,”_ He hissed. “ **Fifteen.** Fifteen in the span of ten minutes while you were off in the corner brooding your ass off. All because you refused to move on the first day.”

“ _HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW I WAS THE BREAKER OF THE ANCIENT COMMANDMENT OF THOU SHALT NOT SIT NEXT TO THINE LORD KAIBA?!”_

“Then _answer_ the consequences, from now until you get your work permit you’re staying with me _and_ driving off anyone who tries to,” He smirked. “take me away from you.”

_“BULLSHIT. I AIN’T GONNA BE SOME DIPSHIT POSSESSIVE PARTNER.”_

_“_ You are. And you will. Feel free to act as possessive as possible.”

“ _You want me to be your fake partner for a whole. Fucking. Year.”_

“You will if you’re going to be in the care of Roland.”

You cast a hand over to Jae, _“She’s the one with my guardianship papers!”_

“Only if those so-called parents of yours are away, and judging from what your Driver told me- they are.”

_“None of your business.”_

“It is if it means that I’ll have to suffer through _fifteen_ people trying to sit next to me.”

_“They didn’t **before!** ” _

“That’s _before_ you came along and broke the rule that I had carefully made for myself in the beginning of the year.”

_“Again how was I supposed to know!”_

“You could have taken the hint when I _glared at you.”_

_“Fuck you!”_

“Your eagerness is noted but unnecessary. You don’t have to go _that_ far to sell the illusion that we’re dating.”

Jae the driver only smiled while she mentally told herself, reading Mr. Kaiba’s lips and reading your rapid sign language as you ‘sputtered’ face flushed with embarrassment, _“These two are **so** getting married.”_

* * *

A/n: HAHAH Guess what. 

At the time that this is published, it's my birthday. Aug. 6. (For them western folks, 6 is already done at the east). So I'm kinda tired, so not that much to say here. But meh. You know. 

_**Dedications To:** _

**_sakuchwan:_ ** _//Throws you a virtual cookie// ALSO HAH. HEAVY CONFLICT INTRODUCED, still not really elaborated on, but I think you can picture sort of what happened. More to come really. Also I always found Onodera and Takano's arguments to be really easy to picture. And- as the reader is actually a writer, I took that opportunity to have the two crossover! Hah! Thanks for commenting and reading and hope you enjoyed this chapter too~_

**_HibiscusMist:_ ** _//throws more blankets at you// thanks bud, I'm glad I was able to get your imagination running! And while I'm pretty sure I'm not that amazing in actuality, I appreciate that you think so. Thanks for reading and commenting! Hope you enjoyed this chapter~_

**_YOU THERE READER:_ ** _Thanks for reading~ Have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!_

_And if you're reading this on your birthday, happy birthday!_

 


	6. The Seventh Brings The Tide

Chapter 6, The Seventh Brings The Tide (of Emotions) 

The following weeks proved to be a relative annoyance, both for you and Kaiba. As you walked into the manor, you didn’t bother waiting for the owner as you simply walked to the closest room to the ground floor. Dragging your bags behind you and generally ignoring and in turn, denying any help that was offered.

This silence went on throughout the whole day into the next day.

People whispered around you as you walked in step with Kaiba, honestly, the bitterness currently circling in your veins could give less of a shit as you just stared ahead. Ignoring mostly everyone as you walked, besides the tall teen.  _All the jealous members of Kaiba’s self-proclaimed club could go screw themselves on a cactus,_  you thought bitterly.

 _So what if the fucker is handsome and has this weird allure tinged with danger in him. Dipshit has no right to trample into my personal affairs, it was being **handled. That** arrogant. Piss prick, son of a-, _you snapped out of your thoughts when you felt a tug on your uniform. Turning up to meet with crystal clear, shamefully dazzling sapphire.

“You passed the room.”

You blinked, huffing and walking backwards to walk in, staring at the young woman in your seat.

And Kaiba, the King of assholery and stuck ups simply ignored it, walking around and sitting in his seat with the serene expression of, “Don’t give a flying fuck” while simultaneously having a smug aura in his attitude. Lips pulling up in the  _slightest_ tilt of smirk that you instantly wanted to make go away. Specifically with C4. Or something equally as fatal.

None the less, there wasn’t really much to do about it without glaring at him and cursing so you simply starred down the girl in your seat.

“What is it?” She said. Voice full of smug arrogance when she thought Kaiba was perfectly fine with her being there.

Your expression twisted, two days of barely reigned in temper and resentment contorted the muscles of your expression into a silent snarl. Your slapped your hand into the fake wood of the desk before sharply pointing outward with the other in an almost military movement. Your intention clear. You wanted her out, and you had no room for bullshit.

“Make me.”

You didn’t even need to look as you reached out with another hand to grab Kaiba by the edges of his uniform, the classroom deathly silent as you hauled him up with little aid and pulled him close. Lips meeting.

As she got up with a gasp and hastily scrambled away, you pulled yourself away. Kaiba’s blank face revealing naught, but his always ever so expressive eyes singing tales of his surprise and bewilderment. You took a sweet pleasure to such expression as you thoughtlessly licked your lips, nearly crashing on the now vacated seat as you sharply looked at everyone. A glare nearing Kaiba’s in intensity but still had an undercurrent of bloodlust hidden in depths that should very well be left alone.

For the purpose of your end of the bargain, you twisted your face into a smug smile, staring down the girl in her new location as you slowly and mockingly slid your tongue over the top of your lips. Grinning.

Being a writer had its perks. The ability to think about what action would seem the most insane and terrifying was one of them. Exploring the internet for ways as to how a killer might gut their victims proved to be both slightly unnerving and fascinating. As such you adapted such thoughts into your own for reference when your thoughts turned to violence.

As long as it didn’t  _actually_ hurt anyone in any way, shape, or form. Mentally or physically (though admittedly pride was something you considered to be an okay thing to hurt depending on the person) you saw no harm in it. Though you kept it to yourself and restrained most of the time when it happened.

Normally you would be horrified with your impulsive action, but you figured you could be mortified later. For now you reaped the satisfaction in throwing it in the mostly obnoxious Kaiba Fan Club that the man of their dreams could give less of a fuck about their actions. If it helped give a  _fuck you_ to said Kaiba, well, you weren’t about to question it.

The next few hours followed with the same staring and with you glaring at other people as you walked next to him, a glorified guard dog in a sense, but you were feeling especially prick-ish on this day. With all that happened you didn’t really get much sleep last night and you hadn’t bothered in partaking in breakfast. The combination, or rather lack thereof lead to a grouch that would be slightly less hinged than normal as frustration was pushed into different uses of motivation. 

Like telling annoyances to go take that shitty stick and shove it, except through actions instead of sign.

At lunch, the two of you sat together in the library. Himself doing work while you read over some base ideas for the movie script. Which  _was_ going in a pretty good direction.

You looked up from your angry typing, staring at Kaiba as he said your name again.

“Did you really have to do that in public.”

You just grinned, eyes glinting sharply, manipulating your expression to have neither an ounce of annoyance or anger. Which did its job in making Kaiba even  _more_ frustrated.

 _“Answer the consequences,”_ You parroted. “ _Besides, you said ‘feel free to act possessive’ so suck it up boy billion.”_

His face twisted into a scowl, causing your chest to contort slightly in guilt before he continued, "Very well then.”

He grabbed your arm with a grip tighter than steel before hauling you from your side of the roundtable. Pulling you into his lap, blinking as your hands sank onto the chair between your legs. Shimming into the seat to make it more comfortable as you starred at the screen.

Your hand reached out to close your laptop, returning as Kaiba’s arms went around your shoulders to continue working. With the rhythm of the keyboard and the general silence of the empty nook in the library, your eyes slowly slid close. Back slouching into the warmth behind you.

* * *

“You’re drooling.”

You jolted from your seat, head hitting something hard above you as you winced and crashed onto the floor. Hand up to rub out the dull throb of whatever you just hit.

Which you now realize was Kaiba’s chin.

You bleared at him and tilted your head.

“You were asleep for twenty minutes.”

You nodded, turning to yawn into your fist as you swayed on your way up. Drunkenly packing your items.

There was a limbo of time where you simply forgot things as you followed Kaiba out, slinking your hand into his own as you just followed him around to…wherever the fuck he was going. You often  _couldn’t_ give a shit nor fuck about anything when you were like this- so you just followed along with the person you relatively were civil with who looked like they knew what they were doing.

The back of your mind that was still awake vaguely wondered about that as his grip tightened, your bag causing your weight to shift on him as you walked. Half awake, half asleep.

Class went without much of a hitch.

In the evening- that, that was another story.

The evening’s events repeated what had occurred on the previous day when you shrugged past him and zombie-walked your way over to your room. The click and lock of the door so loud that it often echoed through the entire ground floor. Kaiba himself paid no mind to it, after taking the nap you had hardly did much other than slowly shuffle your way to your next class. Though slowly, he had found you leaning against the lockers, head tilted up with a small rumble echoing through the empty hall as you presumably took another nap. Considering the day’s events, he would probably give you another day to process it before he started kicking down the door. Kaiba had very little reason to believe that you ate anything else in the past two days, especially since you had adamantly refused breakfast, didn’t eat during lunch, and was probably not even fed the dinner before.

Jae had adjusted surprisingly well to the staff at the Kaiba Mansion, she was capable of reading lips and had mostly taken to tuning some of the cars Kaiba had little time to attend to. Occasionally she also did grocery runs when the need called for it.

None the less, tired and a little drained from the day in dealing with stubborn idiots and friendship obsessed imbeciles, he was looking rather foreword to the shower.

Meanwhile, in your tiredness, you waltzed into Kaiba’s room. Following the sounds of activity to his room’s restroom and walked in, eyes bleary as you shuffled across the plush and clean carpet. The lights were starting to hurt as you reached out to grapple the handle of the glass window wall of his shower. Flinging it to the side to open it.

Kaiba turned in surprise, yelping (though he would deny it till his dying breath) before scowling, face turning an interesting shade of pink, “What the fu-“

You reached out with a limb, which you were pretty sure was your arm, and clamped your hand on his mouth before yawning into another fist.

After a moment, you pulled away both hands and signed tiredly,  _“Stop scowling. Do you have Cheetos?”_

“ _No!”_ He hissed. “Just get your driver or one of the maids to do it and  _get out.”_

Still blinking and relatively confused as to why the situation warranted the taller man to start  _hissing,_ you looked down. Kaiba responded to that by shoving himself closer and forcing your head up, face now fully tinted in a rose color.

You just frowned at him as you felt his wet limbs seeping into your clothes, reaching up to briefly sign,  _“Don’t see big deal. Seen bigger.”_

Turning to the side to yawn again, you pulled yourself away and walked through the exit, mindlessly noting the distinctive clink of the bathroom door locking as you walked out of his room. You ignored the pang in your chest. 

* * *

 

Kaiba was dressed in a button-down white shirt and black slacks when he found you in the kitchen, thoughtlessly munching on Cheetos with chopsticks while hunched over a laptop. Drinking some sort of soda in between bites and washing down with bottled water.

“That’s not healthy.”

You looked up at him and shrugged.

He sighed, walking over to the fridge and opened it to see what he could make. Normally he would have had a chef prepare the meal, as he often did, but he sent the man to do some catering for Mokuba’s class party at his request. For now, the kitchen was only filled with the occasional maid. Who uneasily watched as Kaiba rummaged through the cabinet, waved off by Kaiba himself.

“I can make steak.”

Kaiba turned as you simply gave him a thumbs up, still eating on a piece of Cheeto- which he didn’t even know how you got come to think of it.

“Junk food isn’t dinner.”

There was a small snorting noise coming from your area before the sound of a chair grinding against the ceramic floor filled the kitchen. He barely had enough time to catch whatever you had tossed in his direction, looking up to find you leaning against the side of the counter. Closest to the sink.

“Garlic salt?”

You nodded, arms moving in a shaking motion onto the flat of your hand. Rubbing it together.

He scowled at you, “I know what the garlic salt is for, but it will make the meat too salty.”

You pursed your lips in a pout.

“It’s not healthy.”

You pointed accusingly at the coffee maker, a high-end model that was heavily used.

“You thought Cheetos is an acceptable dinner food.”

You pointed at him and lifted three fingers. Dipping down one by one slowly until none was left.

“Drinking coffee three times a day is not unhealthy.”

You offered not but a deadpanned expression, lifting up all hands.

“I  _don’t_  drink ten cups of coffee a day.”

You raised your eyebrows, fully expressing your skeptical attitude towards the statement. Leaning against the counter with your hip and crossing your arms.

The two of you partook in this staring contest for almost a full half hour until it was interrupted by the buzzing of your phone.

You took it out and looked at before rolling your eyes, shoving it back into your pocket.

“Who was it.”

Your face scrunched up in annoyance before shaking your head, moving your hands.

_“You’ll find out if you really want to.”_

“I could.”

Silence reigned over the air as the atmosphere seemed to suddenly intensify. So quiet as neither individual moved from their spot in an intense stare down, a battle of will.

Kaiba turned away with a sigh, “Very well. Though I expect you to come with me on the weekend.”

You frowned, tilting your head to indicate your confusion.

“There’s a party hosted by Takada on the weekend, as he is one of Kaiba Corps suppliers I am obligated to go,” Kaiba scowled as he turned to the stove. Pulling over a pan from the hooks in front of it. “He’s been pestering me about bringing a date for the past ten years.”

You raised an eyebrow at that, questioning as to why Mr. I-can-do-anything-because-fucker-I-have-money didn’t just tell the guy to take that shit and shove it where the sun don’t shine.

“No, I am  _not_ telling him to fuck off.”

You shrugged.

* * *

 

There was a strange silence as the two of you ate dinner, which was actually pretty bland in Kaiba’s opinion, but there was a small smile on your lips as you ignored your laptop (for once) and sat down and ate. Table manners and all, closing your eyes as you chewed on the steak joined by a scoop of plain rice. Which admittedly took away some of the saltiness from the garlic salt rub, much to Kaiba’s surprise. Since he hardly cooked anymore, much less have something as simple as a meat and rice.

None the less, the two of you sat in front of each other in silence. Sitting at the white marble counter with your legs swinging back and forth, occasionally taking a swig from the glass of water nearby.

As you finished, crossing your utensils to the side before pushing your plate. You watched as a maid scurried to get the dirty plate for a cleaning, silence still reigning within the kitchen. Though decidedly far less tense than before.

Making a decision over the debate within your mind, you pulled out your phone, open the text and pushed it towards Kaiba. Who took it without a word as he pushed his own finished plate for a maid to pick up.

Kaiba observed your phone for a moment, it was well kept. Clean save for the recent fingerprints, but he could tell it was probably a prepaid phone you had gotten yourself with your own money. He scowled at the thought but read the text.

He threw the phone across the kitchen.

Wincing, you kind of expected that- but that phone was nigh indestructible, so you decided to pick it up later.

“You can’t just let them walk over you.”

You shrugged. It was always like this, they weren’t even that bad until recently. You explained that to Kaiba, even as he turned rampant sapphire eyes upon you. Filled to the brim with the power of the card Kaiba was so proud of. Had you not be so distracted you could probably make countless comparisons and poems about the sheer beauty alone.

“If you could just stand up for yourself for once instead of letting people insult you I have no doubt we’d be further along in this process,” He growled.

Once again, you shrugged. Because you could see where he’s coming from. You did the digging and the research. Kaiba’s life was similar to yours- but it was worse. He was pressured into doing things, climbing up the ranks in intelligence, protecting his younger brother from the tyrant manufacturer who was looking for a worthy heir. There were definite signs of abuse, that much was said in the police reports- but honestly, your home life was never that bad. They hadn’t beaten you, they still gave you an allowance, even though it was relatively small. They provided a guardian in their stead. Sure they slapped you  _once_ and dear lord you had felt pity because your sperm donor had a pretty weak smack even by your standards, they ignored you for the majority of your lifespan, leaving you underdeveloped in terms of verbal communication, but they gave you tutors. You just couldn’t bring yourself to blame them for what they did, your thoughts always circle back to the fact that  _it could’ve been worse._ And while your therapist had told you that this thinking was  _wrong_ you just couldn’t let the idea go. Because it was true. It really  _could_ have been worse.

You glanced at Kaiba, and using the image of what you knew, you saw the self-defense mechanism, you sort of figured out his reasoning for interfering with your business so much.

You reminded him of himself, the self that never fought against Gozoboro- and he  _hated it._

 _You_ could see it in the twinge of his jaw as he observed another shrug from you, you could see sapphire eyes roaring like the sea with anger and pent of frustration. You could see the impatient thrumming of his long fingers upon the white marble as he released his aggravation somewhat. Aggravation for the person who he could have been no doubt.

The idea filled you with unease as your remaining anger towards his interferences faded away, whispers of your mind that sounded similar to the voices at home quietly filling you with guilt. Because honest to god, Mr. Asshole was trying to  _help_ in his own way.

The idea left you sick when you remembered what you did to him at school- did you really have to do that? Did you really have to barge into his shower like that? Invade his privacy? Just for some  _stupid **Cheetos?**_ The man was trying to  _help-_

Your mind delved deeper into this spiral, acid words berating you for your selfishness.  _You_ were the one who wanted to go to a high school.  _You_ were the one who sat next to Kaiba.  _You_ were the reason why your parents weren’t happy-

* * *

As your mind delved deeper into guilt, Kaiba had stopped his thrumming mid-way as he realized just what was going on. Your expression morphing into one of heavy guilt as you were no doubt overthinking the whole damn thing- because yes, you reminded him of himself. But you were honestly better than he was- you already made a name for  _yourself_ and not through the ashes of his former so-called “Father’s” company and reputation. Hell, he had known the book before he had known  _you._ The only reason he found out about it in the first place was because Yugi had mentioned a list of the books you had worked on, and while Kaiba heavily doubted many decisions the shorter teen made (being friends with the mutt) and he had  _enjoyed_ the books. They were well written, well thought out, and had twist that were not obvious, subverted tropes that were a common theme throughout the series- and you had done  _more._ One shot novels written under different names, thrillers so haunting that it left even  _Kaiba_ checking to see if his numerous windows are  _locked._ Stories that critiqued society’s views from racism to prejudice from religion, interwoven into complex characters that Kaiba ended up wanting to  _know._ Mundane facts made exciting through a simple twist of words- Kaiba could never do that.

He actually had a sizable library of your works, but he hadn’t known it was all the same author.

Yet to learn that the same author he may have admired was going through what he had gone through when he was  _younger_ , and to discover that you were honestly doing  _better_ than he was but not doing anything to get yourself out of that situation. It was frustrating- it was like discovering that your hero wasn’t so good after all- and Kaiba just wanted to fix it. Because in all those works of literature he could recognize a deep frustration interwoven within  _all_ of your books, a common theme, an issue that the hero just never always knows what to do when it comes to such a  _deep_ problem. The solutions usually coming down to the work of  _others_ with the hero accepting that they are useless when it comes down to it. It wasn’t obvious, it was very subtle. But Kaiba noticed all the same, and he could see that frustration reflected upon you. And he  _had felt that,_ he had  _felt_ that in some ways everything that Mokuba goes through is  _his_ fault. A consequence of  _his_ decisions. But he got  _over_ that, he focused on the  _present_ because Mokuba was what mattered- and you didn’t have that. You didn’t have that necessary motivation to get over yourself and just get shit  _done._

And damn it all, he really did want to help. (He would never admit it but he did sort of hero worshiped you a  _little bit)_

Ugh- he really couldn’t let the mutt know about what he was doing- he would  _never_ live it down.

He watched as you reached out and laid your hands flat on the table, head ducked but your hands shifted slightly to make a rough movement.

_Sorry._

He sighed, a long deep sigh that reverberated down to his diaphragm.

“It’s not your fault,” He growled, trying to be more… _frank_ with his words- because if he didn’t say it as clearly and as blandly as possible, your overthinking brain might get the wrong idea. Watching as your eyes had shot up to meet with his, “ _I…_ wanted—wanted to-“

He sighed and took a hand, slightly tracing the letters onto your palm. You frowned at him as the words registered.

 _Why?_ You had asked him as your eyes met his. He got up from his end of the counter and tugged you along, finding yourself compliant as you simply walked a ways behind him. Struggling to keep your mind clear of any ideas- which had only caused you to crash onto a relatively hard surface. Looking up at the blue-eyed man that showed so many emotions in just his eyes alone, well-hidden and tucked away.

“Because while your stubborn ass might not believe it, you  _do_ deserve some help,” He sighed. “And not  _everything_ is your responsibility. Stupid." 

You blinked at him, and he could actually watch the gears in your head turn a bit before he watched you shift slightly. Face warming with a flush before shoving your face into his chest.

He sighed as he ignored the small patch of wetness growing on his shirt

* * *

 

 **A/n:** It has been a while. School is to blame. Blame school. Though while I enjoy the debates and discussions involved in AP English Language, let it never be said that it's an "easy" thing. I've only been able to destress through reading so I haven't gotten that much time to write. In fact, I had an essay due a few hours before I had finished writing this chapter. None the less, here it is. Slightly darker than the others, but it's a necessary point in the story. 

 

NExt time. We shall start seeing things  _really_ start to get a little Febuary in the fall eh?? eh?? 

 

Was that cheesy, I think it was cheesy. //shrugs//

 

**Dedications to:**

_**Sakuchwan:** //old voice// it has been a few months since my birthday- i'm around the age where I should be learning how to drive- and adult- and ugh. Thank you for the belated wishes all the same (though i read your comment on the day you posted it honestly-) But I'm glad you like where this story is headed. (though admitedly i may have been a tiny bit misleading on how bad the parents actually are- whoop- and I'm rambling. So. Thank you for commenting. _

**_HibiscusMint:_ ** _And so we do talk. Kinda. I've been busy. And showing a friend of mine how to lift safe search off his Tumblr feed. //WHOOP// Thanks for reading, and commenting. Hope you enjoyed this one too (lord knows this one was hopefully an emotional rollercoaster ((it should have been, I tried to write it that way)) and //whistles//_

_**Cocomalt:** Jae is indeed coolio, I didn't really base her on anyone except for maybe my Dad. And yeah, i've had this idea since forever ((cough//sinceIwaswayyounglikeprobablytwelve//cough)) but it isn't till now that I've actually had the prowess, ideas, and language to actually put it in motion.   
_

_LIke a personal computer. I didn't have that back then that's for sure._

_**To YOU READER:** Thanks for reading! Comment and/or leave a kudos if you like. But I guarantee I will enjoy comments more.   
_

_And every comment does get a little shout out like this- so if you have questions for me, feel free to ask._

**_EXTRAS:_ **

_And while I don't think it's common, if ya'll got questions for me that you want to answer more immediately then you could drop an ask on my Tumblr. It's Aki-the-Fangirl and my main blog is titled Author and Character(s) And another one I'm working on called For Mindless Drabbles, but my name is Aki-The-Writer on there so--. It's up to you. I draw a little bit so if you leave me a question on any of my crappy pictures on Instagram which is @Abraxos_Phantom, I'll do a drawn response- unless somebody tells me how to post a picture with an ask on Tumblr- that be bloody brilliant. Check it out if you want- but you don't have to. Just kinda throwing it out there as I'm drunkenly typing (not really, it's just kinda late and today was a stressful day)._

_And if your wondering about how I could possibly have this idea writing this when I was 12- er- I'm 16 right now. In junior year though- I've been told I look younger than i am (aka was literally thought of as a freshman when I mentioned I went to high school to this guy in a home depot wtf bruh). My mental maturity can be debated on but- eh. I don't plan on showing my face to the internet nor my actual name- so. //shrug// Just a fun fact- you guys don't really need to care about it. Kudos to you though if you read this long as butt thing._

_Have a virtual cookie- // **THROWS** //_


	7. The Eighth Brings Misconception

Chapter 7, The Eighth Brings Misconceptions

* * *

 

The next day had proven to be one that went by slightly easier than the previous, anger no longer running in your veins, there was a deep-seated tiredness as you half-heartedly glared at yet another student in your seat. You had just barely gotten to class and already you wanted out of this whole bull.

You hung your head with a heavy sigh, reaching out to grab the arm of the female student, wrenching her off the desk and landing your bag onto the seat with a thunk. Sliding in smoothly as you made the transition. Which was a wonder in itself considering the spaces between desks weren’t exactly wide.

Beside you, Kaiba had raised an eyebrow at the ease you had expressed moving another human being off something but otherwise chose not to comment. The night before had proven to be tiring as you seemed to zombie walk your way out of the room, dressed, but very much looking like you were regretting everything. When you got into the limo with him he no longer saw any reason why he should tell you to just stay home.

“Oi”

And the morning just got worse. For Kaiba that is.

At the sound of your name, you lifted your head slightly from where your chin had rested on the desk, eyes looking tired as you seemed to acknowledge the annoying puppy Wheeler with a simple raise of both your eyebrows and a blink in greeting.

“Wow, you look tired buddy- what happened?”

Kaiba (and the _rest_ of the class) almost hacked a lung as he witnessed you tiredly lift your hands up, made a circle with one and a finger with the other. Pushing them together with an exaggerated slow motion, needless to say, Kaiba was assured you were still upset with him for the whole agreement of you being in a relationship with him.

Or you were so tired you were drunk- it could have been both. He honestly couldn’t rule it out as impossible when you had walked into his bathroom while he was showering in a similar state just to ask for _food._

“Oh uh-“

You raised an eyebrow, looking very ready to condemn the blond dog for any sort of slag, comment, or otherwise.

“Okay then- I’ll just be _right_ over there nice to see your doing good buddy maybe Kaiba won’t be such a prick now-“

You sighed, then in a split second Kaiba found himself hearing a loud thunk and watching Wheeler leap to his desk, rubbing his leg furiously with a loud hiss.

“AH! What was that for?!” The Blonde said, keeling over in his seat.

You gave him a glare, impressively effective even as your chin was resting on top of the fake wooden desk. A lifted hand pointing at the mutt accusingly before tapping your own head, statement clear.

_“You know.”_

“Must you be so crude,” Kaiba muttered in deadpan. Watching you shrug as your hands moved sluggishly.

_“Shut up, I’m defending your honor.”_

“My honor doesn’t need defending, much less from _Wheeler,”_ Kaiba said it with a slight scowl that made you snort. Raising your eyebrow at him with an impression he could clearly read as _“You sure about that?”_

“Oh shut up.”

You grinned and pointed at your throat, which caused him to roll his eyes but made no comment as you finally managed to straighten yourself off from the desk.

 _“Date?”_ You asked, hands slightly faster than before. More to your usual speed.

“Friday.”

You briefly grunted, turning to the front of the classroom with your chin in your hands as the homeroom teacher walked in. Signaling the starting of class.

* * *

Once again you found yourself sitting on Kaiba’s lap, though this time Kaiba was overlooking proposals from other businesses. Which riled you up, surprisingly.

You made a rapid motion of conveyed disbelief at the letter, your head tilted towards the sky as if you were stating an apology on behalf of humanity to some sort of higher power. Either way, you were exhibiting frustration in waves.

“Yes, I get it. Horrid grammar, now let me work,” Kaiba grumbled half-heartedly, though a little amused by your petulance. He had about thirty of these to go through and he didn’t want to work on them once he got home, at the very least he would rather be working on something _else_ other than half-assed proposals. Not only was he concerned about the party, he was also overlooking the end of the monthly sales report, which admittedly was as boring as listening to Gardner’s friendship speeches.

After that, he had let you move as you went to the other side of the table to work on your own projects while he shuffled through proposals. Until the bell rang for class, the only sounds within the library were the swift typing.

People gathered behind bookshelves as they have been since Kaiba’s arrival to the school, but they were more subdued given the fact that whenever they had moved to take a picture they were met with heavily disappointed stares that for some reason summoned the guilt they didn’t know they had.

Every time, you sighed internally.

* * *

On this day, the routine changed, if ever so slightly.

You looked out from the tinted window of the limousine in interest as a tall building’s doors came to view. The initials KC came into view as the door opened, with you scrambling out of it. Roland continued to hold the door open as Kaiba slid out of it with practiced ease in high contrast to your floundering (something you resented but accepted somewhat). You shadowed behind Kaiba as his employees (because you were no idiot and you were pretty sure there was _no such building in **existence**_ that held the same initials as the one and only Kaiba) greeted him respectfully, not even batting an eye your way as you unconsciously hunched over and made yourself smaller. You kept in careful step with Kaiba as you followed him to the elevator, eyeing the fact that Kaiba used a keycard to make the thing _work._

You didn’t really talk (well you _couldn’t,_ but that wasn’t the point) throughout the trip as you watched the numbers shift higher and higher before stopping. When it dinged open you followed Kaiba out, going through intimidating double wood doors and into what you assumed to be his office.

It was a certainly a grand office, glass doors viewing to the city bellow. A sleek desk, to the right there was a sort of sitting area (probably for Mokuba and Yugi considering they would probably be the only two people hovering by as Kaiba worked) that was laid out tastefully. A duel disk (probably the prototype) hung in display towards the end, it was an office you could imagine Kaiba having.

As you snapped out of your observation mode, you saw the tail end of Kaiba leaving, Roland awkwardly standing there.

You tilted your head.

“Mr. Kaiba has several meetings to attend to,” He said, a bit sheepish you noted. “I need to follow him in a few seconds but if you need anything you can call me.”

He quickly handed you a walkie-talkie of sorts, its sleek design had thrown you for a loop before realizing that it had properties a walkie-talkie had with the different channels, but he had left and walked out before you could ask about it, leaving you alone in the room.

You stood in a bit of a daze before shaking your head and moving towards the sitting area. Crossing your legs and opening your laptop and punching in the code for Kaiba’s personal wifi. (Seriously labeled Main Kaiba Office Wifi) Your shoulders shaking due to the fact that Kaiba’s wifi password happened to be _BEUDJMPEN005._

You opened your email and scrolled through, approving edits and decisions. Opening emails about fanfiction that had updated that same day.

Then the door opened.

A secretary (or you think it was) walked in, stopping at the site of you.

“What are you doing here?”

You shrugged helplessly.

“You need to get out, I’m calling security.”

You nodded and gathered your things, sliding it into the bag and walked out, stopping at the elevator and looking at the secretary.

“What?”

You pointed to the keycard.

“Oh, let me get that.”

And she was about to do just that before the elevator opened, Kaiba in front of you.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

You looked up at him to shrug, nodding your head to the secretary.

“We don’t treat guests this way,” He said, his scowl telling you that the next few words probably wasn’t going to be a promotion. You reached out to catch his jaw, tilting it down before signing.

_“Leave her alone, she’s doing her job.”_

Sighing, his scowl remained as he signed back.

 _“You wouldn’t be pissed at her if I was some crazed fan of yours Boy Billion,”_ You pointed out. You patted his cheek slightly, _“Don’t be so prissy.”_

You turned to the secretary, _“Once again, my apologies for the misunderstanding.”_

The secretary returned meekly, _“No no, **my** apologies. I should have checked with Mr. Kaiba or Mr. Roland before acting.”_

You smacked Kaiba’s arm, keeping a straight smile on your face even as he gave you a luck of such pure annoyance that it could have been crystallized. Stopping him from scolding his secretary straight up, instead simply dismiss the young woman back to her desk.

 _“Your meeting was done?”_ You instead asked, now seated in front of his desk while Kaiba did some work on his office computer. Which was probably just the slickest damn thing you’ve ever seen.

“Yes, it was,” He scowled. “Dismal. Issues with the Duel Academy. _Again._ While the Academy isn’t up and running just yet apparently some major repairs need to be done with some of the dueling arenas. It puts us back about three weeks before the School is scheduled to open and begin recruitment, due to the state of some of the arenas, we can’t recruit teachers until it gets fixed.”

You tilted your head, thinking about something before shaking it.

“What is it.”

 _“I’m just thinking it would be fun to have you or Yugi duel sometimes if your so intent on your academy,”_ You signed, imagining the image it would make. “ _You could also invite duelists around the world too. It would be a benefit since your style of dueling is different from Yugi’s. Showing exemplary subjects in technique.”_

“I assumed you duel, though I haven’t discovered to what extent.”

_“Well, I’ve watched various tournaments that feature you or Yugi. You’re a player that builds their deck strategically. Usually, it leads to your deck being designed for a specific purpose of summoning your best monster. Not including that one duel you had with the German game company head with the Valkyries because screw you. That Chaos Emperor Dragon is **so** broken Kaiba and you know it. Yugi’s style actually varies but he relies on a multitude of cards, it’s literally built to change at the flip of a coin. It’s one of the things that make it so fascinating and just straight up frustrating. Yugi’s deck is built upon being able to win with quite literally **any fucking card** he has. I don’t think I need to remind you of how many times he’s beaten you with a Kuriboh.” _

Kaiba scowled, locking his eyes on his computer screen but not commenting.

_“He can also get pretty freaking wild when he’s pissed off too- but I think this instance was…it was just different, I’m going to guess you know about Yami right?”_

“Yes, I know about the Pharaoh.”

_“And you know about that one time he lost?”_

“That was the incident with Dartz- how did _you_ know that?”

You flapped your hand at him, _“Yugi tells me stuff sometimes when he wants to vent. But anyway, Yami was dueling against Weevil shortly after your call under the impression that Weevil had Yugi’s soul card.”_

Kaiba scowled deeply at this, “I wasn’t aware that Yugi had actually been _soul sucked_.”

_“The more you know then. But anyway, Weevil made a big mistake while under the influence of the Orichalcos sigil. He ripped one of his cards- but told Yami that it was Yugi’s card before.”_

Kaiba’s scowl grew deeper, teetering just enough to seem to almost reach sneer region.

_“It lead to a duel that- I shit you not- made Yami use a combination of Blast Magician and Berserker’s Soul.”_

Kaiba made some quick calculations before, “A large portion of Yugi’s deck was monster cards at the time, which means-“

 _“Teá had to tell him to stop,”_ You signed. _“Apparently he was pretty scary. Like a season zero that was never published because it was too rated M.”_

“I never got the details of the duel, I assumed that the two of them were simply being obtuse as always,” Kaiba smoothed out his scowl ever so slightly. “I suppose I know why now.”

 _“Well, my point is that Yugi does this shit **all the fucking time.** It kind of reflects how he is as a person actually but that is not a conversation I want to touch with a twenty-foot pole. There’s literally no need to examine it so don’t think about it,” _You warned. “ _what I’m saying though is that it would be good to expose your potential students to different styles of dueling. Flip type decks. Discard type decks. Fiend-type, it would be best to be taught by someone who has some standing in the dueling world. You and Yugi are obvious choices. I know a couple of people overseas.”_

“Such as?” Kaiba had a considering look on his face that you hoped was a good thing and was kind of struggling to look at. It was soft and open ever so slightly unlike his usual expressions. Rendering your normally highly developed skill of articulation to sum it up to one simple word.

_Damn._

_“I know Anguis from California,”_ You signed, shifting to attempt to look at something else as your eyes met with clear cerulean. It was uncomfortable given the fact that you felt you had _all_ of his attention. The Burnette had even stopped typing as he listened to your various suggestions. _“And Anguis knows a couple other duelists within the United States.”_

“Anguis _Shinku?_ The number one duelist after he beat Bandit Keith three years ago?”

You nod, _“We met on a forum examining the different styles of international duelists. Kind of developed a friendship from there, he’s very nice and I wager he’ll be willing to teach a thing or two about dueling if you ask.”_

Actually the two of you had met on a forum focused on Seto Kaiba _specifically,_ not really the type of sites where various pictures, fan art, and/or fanfiction of the man were posted for…fans to enjoy, but more like one predicting various hints from video games, conventions, or public announcements that Kaiba Corporation may or may not release. One ridiculous thread offered that _card games on motorcycles_ might become the new thing in the future. Which was kind of ridiculous but considering that you may or may not have seen a literal _Blue Eyes White Dragon_ themed motorcycle in the man’s garage, the possibility of it just might not be so farfetched. You were personally more interested in the collaboration that might happen between Kaiba Corp and Nintendo on a new gaming system utilizing the amiibo system for a strictly story based world for the card game. Which would be _freaking amazing._ The possibilities were endless when you consider the various lore based around some of the characters developed. Like the Dark Magician or freaking _Black Luster Soldier._

Then you vaguely remembered what month it was.

_“Are you planning on doing anything for your birthday?”_

“No, I will be finishing work. Chances are they will be celebrating it in the party this tomorrow,” Kaiba scowled. “Which will be irritating but Mr. Shimada  is a decent businessman and one of Kaiba Corp’s prime suppliers.”

 _“Ah,”_ You made no more movements as awkward silence overtook the room.

“I’ll consider your suggestion.”

You nod, if a bit weakly as you attempted to forget the small tilt of lips the frustrating taller man had on his face before disappearing. A plan slowly forming in your mind as you tried to remember where you had put a certain book.

* * *

Kaiba leaned back with a sigh as he finished what was needed to be done, looking off to the side as you focused on a laptop and typed. Your facial muscles twitching as always before looking off to the side in contemplation and returning to your work.

It had taken some getting used to after the first few times you had seemed like you were looking at him to ask him something before returning back to whatever was on your laptop. Given the fact that you communicated in sign, Kaiba was more than a little annoyed when you just snapped back to the screen and continued typing with a renewed sense of purpose. Yet there was something in your eyes that told him you weren’t quite all there as you worked. Probably busy constructing scenes in your head before typing them out on whatever you were working on.

Still, there was certainly a sense of tranquility in your focus. The quiet moments the two of you shared when you weren’t discussing different things were one of the most motivating in terms of getting work done. He often found himself in a better, clearer mood when he worked while you were near. Your hyper-focus on your own work affecting him like a contagion. It had gotten to the point where you hadn’t even noticed him staring. Taking almost an hour before starting and asking him if he needed anything. A genius at work couldn’t exactly cover it.

He mindlessly combed back his hair with one hand, watching the file save and scrolling his mouse idly with the other as he double checked the sent emails back ranging from reports from development to programming.

When he took a glance back at you, he almost chuckled at the abnormality.

He himself was in a three-piece suit, tie smooth and jacket straight. He had come to work for work. You, on the other hand, were vastly different. You were wearing a long sleeved shirt that was dark gray, a well-worn pair of black pants that was just slightly too long for your legs. Leaving off at clean, but old sneakers that had seen better days. Black frames were settled just before your eyes with lenses that didn’t seem graded but did have a slight tinge to them. Your brows were currently furrowed together in thought, eyes moving left to right on the screen. Presumably, because you were typing in English. By all means, your clothing was relatively unprofessional being a regular shirt, but somehow you fit. Blending into the background in a way that seemed almost natural as you ignored everyone around you and concentrated on whatever you were working on.

You would pause ever so often, closing your eyes or leaning back to look at something farther than Kaiba could think of. There was a fondness he could feel swelling just under territories he didn’t want to get into.

Feeling his stare, you looked up to meet his eyes, frowning, _“What is it?”_

“Nothing,” Kaiba said. “You look like an idiot.”

Kaiba watched you crack a small smile before returning to work.

* * *

The day passes on relatively quickly for the both of you as you found yourselves in the middle of a relatively large home, you stood decked out in formal wear with your hair styled slightly. You hadn’t spent much on it but you did try to make yourself look nice at the very least. As promised, upon arrival to Mr. Shimada ’s home Kaiba was greeted with birthday wishes and cake. Presents weren’t really on the table (for what could one get a billionaire bachelor?) but people swarmed around him to get even the slightest of chances to speak with the prodigy.

You stayed somewhat behind, leaning back and watching from the upper levels of the house to watch people greet and have a discussion with Kaiba. You held no particular interest (and it wasn’t as if you _could_ speak anyway) so you had performed your greatest and most perfected party trick. Disappearing from the crowd.

It wasn’t as difficult as it could have been, you’ve disappeared from your own celebration parties hosted by the publishing company though the challenges were decidedly lesser so when said party wasn’t focused on you specifically.

It was fascinating really, as you observed him. His posture was at ease, yet not in the way you often saw him when he was at home or in the office in relative isolation (in fact, you were pretty sure he forgot about your presence more than he’d like to admit). It was more of an ease that came with experience, speaking with others within his circle of business partners. He was confident and it showed in his posture throughout speaking with the others in the party. It was something that couldn’t be faked but you knew his ease came from assurance and not actual ease.

You could see Kaiba tense slightly as his eyes turned the corner to see your lack of presence beside him, exactly when another (most likely an escort) female had approached, laying a light hand on his shoulder to which he brushed off.

Your skills in reading lips were relatively rusty, but you could vaguely make out the sounds of Kaiba mentioning being in a relationship. Looking up, his eyes met yours and you smiled.

Your hand motioned to your chest, over exaggerating your breath and patting it slightly. Returning that hand to quickly fan yourself and bowing your head. If you knew Kaiba as well as you thought you did, you were relatively certain that he would understand your motions. The other hand rested behind your back, clutching a small package.

Kaiba nodded and turned to the others, explaining your need for air.

* * *

Kaiba finished your explanation just as he took a glance back to where you had snuck off to. Your figure was vaguely obscured behind the rails of the upper floor, but your position in front of the window allowed a halo of moonlight to glow behind you. Closing your eyes briefly a strand of hair flew on your face before you shook it away, both hands having moved behind your back that he was pretty sure was habit as he watched your eyes gaze upon the crowd bellow yourself. Back uncharacteristically straight as you held an air of feigned ease that was pretty difficult to label as artificial. Eyes were half closed in brief curiosity as your downward and mysteriously _sultry_ gaze assessed and observed.

He felt a brief pang of resentment and jealousy that he immediately chose to ignore.

None the less, he wasn’t the only one looking at you upon the balcony. As many within the party had whispered to each other about the mysterious figure towering above them. Seductive in the way things out of reach often were.

Kaiba wanted to tell all of them to mind their damn business, but he restrained himself.

“Ah- so that was the one who managed to ensnare the infamous Seto Kaiba.”

Kaiba turned to see Mr. Shimada  nod to himself as he looked to where you stood, “Yes, that makes sense.”

“Mr. Shimada .”

“Mr. Kaiba,” The elderly man smiled tiredly at him. “Tell me about this person, I assume they are interesting to have such a hold on you?”

Kaiba nodded hesitantly. Unsure of what to say, for once, at a loss for words. Strangely poetic considering you were an author.

“Indeed, it seems that way,” Mr. Shimada had nodded. Looking back at you briefly and smiling in greeting. Your eyes seem to meet with the elderly man as you nodded your head in respect and strange regality. “Ah- so they are one of _those._ Interesting that you seemed so attracted to such a type Mr. Kaiba.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Kaiba responded dryly.

“The analytical type Mr. Kaiba, the mature beyond their age. Much like yourself,” Mr. Shimada motioned to him slightly with a mischievous grin. “But also the type who excel in what they chose to be and have an air that almost seems god-like. An aura that almost naturally draws people to them. Yet I suspect that they restrain themselves more than you do.”

“Such as?” Kaiba asked, suddenly interested.

“My brother was a man very much like yourself and your other,” Mr. Shimada said, an amused smile overcoming his face as he switched his stare to settle on Kaiba, who met his nearly black eyes evenly. “Often very angry, but he channeled that anger in several ways that I have always personally found fascinating.”

“Much like yourself,” He continued. “he often used that anger to propel himself forward in life. Clawing his way to where he wanted. Your other, however, is more fascinating.”

“A mere observation I assure you,” He said to him smiling. Kaiba hadn’t even noticed that he had pulled an immediate frown. “Yet it seems your other’s anger is very much under wraps. Buried far deeper than what I thought was plausible. Yet it shows in little ways.”

Mr. Shimada motioned over to where you stood, back straight and still watching the party bellow yourself.

“That stance. The expression. The way your other holds themselves, it tells of an individual who has been through much yet does not let it show. Out of ease and caution, out of the knowledge that their anger would best be placed in somewhere more productive in similar ways to yours, yet much deeper. The person you have managed to interest carries an iron will that will bend to no one but those they deem worthy, an understanding of life far beyond what perhaps even they may know, but carry the signs.” Mr. Shimada chuckled a bit. “I have to say Mr. Kaiba, you have found a person who may very well have been a very dangerous individual if fate would have it.”

“I find it hard to believe in something as conceptual as fate,” Kaiba admitted dryly, cautiously polite despite wanting outright say that he didn’t believe in such bullshit. He carved his own way in the world, no matter what anyone would say otherwise. Not even the Pharaoh’s magic could ever convince him that everything he’s done, everything he’s accomplished was because of everything but himself. It caused the elderly man to laugh outright.

“Oh indeed Mr. Kaiba, I understand. But look at the way they hold themselves, I’m sure you’ve never seen this behavior in anywhere until more recently?”

Kaiba thought back on it, and in a way, the old man was right. On average, your stance and projection to the world was very different from the one you were projecting in this instance.

Then he thought back to every environment he had witnessed you in. And he realized that the old man had a point to his seemingly useless drawl.

“Much like a chameleon Mr. Kaiba. Much like a chameleon,” Mr. Shimada smiled as he remembered the ways your eyes were as you spoke to Kaiba through gestures. “I wager they have learned the language of the body so well they could speak it rather well.”

 _And like spoken words_ , Mr. Shimada quietly noted as he watched Kaiba piece together his brief observations himself, _they have the capacity to lie._

“If you could excuse me for the moment?”

“Of course.”

Mr. Shimada watched as Kaiba walked briskly through the crowd to the upper floors.

“An interesting duo for sure.”

Mr. Shimada turned to smile at his husband, grasping his hand in his own.

“Indeed. One most certainly is quite the actor. Quite the Stark I think, one wonders how they ended up with such a habit in the first place.”

“It is most fascinating. And most saddening.”

Indeed, Mr. Shimada thought to himself. Most sad indeed for someone as young as they were to feel the necessity to mold themselves to the environment. To arrange themselves in such a way and stance so as to decrease the amount of plausible challenges in the way. It was an analytical and statistical thinking that required a very real fear of being themselves. A large psychological wound that had been left to fester into such that it had grown to become something very close to dangerous, especially if that individual ever decided to take it out upon the world. So much so that it had caused an individual to willfully chose not to talk. As much as it creates some of the greatest _good_ individuals, it also creates the most dangerous.

A different kind of scar than that of which Mr. Kaiba is marked by, but different. Very different.

* * *

You felt Kaiba more than you had seen him. Feeling his warmth as his front pressed against your back. Looking over you with his ridiculous. You felt the change immediately. Your stance softened, your molded and pressed against the taller man in return. The buzzing of your thoughts and observations quieted as you allowed yourself to lean back.

Kaiba was not happy that he was able to tell.

He was not happy to discover that you had such a thick mask in the first place, something so layered that someone could have easily pegged you for someone who was invited for your business instead of someone who was here as someone’s date.

It certainly gave light to your initial reluctance to leave your home in the first place. You had thought it to be the easier route for your solution, the easier route when you were relying solely on yourself instead of others without sacrificing your ideals. It gave answer to your unwillingness to let Kaiba scold the secretary. Of the ease you took to doing what he had asked you to do and keeping away the fangirls.  
It made him question the fondness he thought you had for him. If you simply showed him that just to eliminate him as a challenge for you to face as you got through life.

You turned around signing, _“It was difficult.”_

Kaiba stayed silent but for you it was an indication for you to continue.

_“What to give you I mean. I don’t really know you all that well, but I figured since you’re doing all this shit or me-“_

“Keep it,” He said suddenly. Cutting you off and feeling a swell of anger and betrayal. Of being manipulated for your uses. Bile rising to the back of his throat as you turned around and looked at him. Face blank but eyes surprised and-

And _hurt._

“-huh?”

“I don’t need your gifts, I helped you because it was a convenience to me. Not because I need friends,” Kaiba gritted. Regret swelling in the back of his mind as he watched your expression stiffen and mold into something blank.

“Until the movie ends you’re nothing more to me than a resource.”

Your face shattered for the briefest moment. Your eyes shining with tears that remained unshed.

Then in a blink, you closed your eyes, the tears were gone as soon as you opened. Face blank.

He felt bile grow into acid as he found he couldn’t read your expression anymore.

 _“Very well,”_ Your movements were stiff. Blank. To the point. Overall devoid of emotion.

Devoid of the fondness he barely noticed was there before.

 _“Keep it none the less,”_ You motioned one-handed, handing him the neatly wrapped packaging. _“I have no use for it.”_

You stepped away from him and walked away.

The words that would have called out for you died in his throat as you disappeared into the shadows. He looked down at the wrapped package and teared at the wrappings.

It was two books.

Notebooks.

With the faded marker reading _Knights of Atlantis._ The other read _The Voices._

He blatantly realized that the hoarse, unused voice that had quietly hushed out a _“huh?”_ could have only come from you. 

* * *

A/n:……..um….this was sort of…sort of spur of the moment. So…yeah. But because it’s been a very, very long while since I’ve last update. I won’t post the latest authors note here. Instead, you’ll get two chapters.

Sorry for the emotional rollercoaster that was this chapter. Let’s…let’s move on shall we? (Because _sheesh_ I didn’t know I could be so cruel)


	8. The Ninth Brings Redemption

Chapter 8, The Ninth Brings Redemption

* * *

**_Warning: This section contains mentions/contemplations of suicide; if this is sensitive to you I request that you please skip this. Another bolded and italicized chapter will notify you of the end of the section. If the mention and description of such thoughts upset you in any way that will be detrimental to your health, I once again request that you skip over them._**  

You stared at the walls of your room.

You were currently in a long-term hotel, bought with cash that you had saved up _years_ before you ever thought about renting yourself an apartment. A fund that you had prepped for yourself the first few months of paycheck that came from your book sales. Your hastily packed bag stashed in the corner of the small business classroom.

You hadn’t moved an inch since you fled to space almost a two days ago. 

Your cellphone had been buzzing and ringing none stop for the almost a full twelve hours before it died from lack of charging.

Your stomach panged with pain from not eating. A water bottle thrown haphazardly across the room from earlier that day.

You cursed yourself for interacting with Kaiba in the first place. It was bound to happen. The man dreamed up by his fans was not Kaiba. Kaiba was a ruthless businessman. A Red Baron. A captain of industry who gained his company after his _step father jumped from a window._

It was stupid of you to believe that he cared for anyone but Mokuba. It was stupid to think that maybe. Just _maybe_ he was doing this because he wanted to be friends with you.

You were stupid. Of course he was just using you. What fool would want someone as broken as you were.

You closed your eyes and scoffed. A slightly insane sound filling the room in bursts of maniacal lunacy.

 _Fuck, that’s how I sound like?_ You thought to yourself, lip curling in broken amusement.

 _“We should have never trusted him.”_ A voice whispered in your head.

 _“It’s fine, he won’t bother us again,”_ Another said.

 _“He needs to pay!”_ Another shouted. _“He betrayed us! We trusted him and he betrayed us! Broke it! He broke it!”_

 _“It’s our fault,”_ Another interjected. _“We strayed from the plan. We let him get close. We let him in.”_

_“He shouldn’t have broken it! His fault! We need to make him pay! We need to burn him! And everyone else! Burn them all! Kill them! Burry them! **Eradicate them**.” _

_“Too far, far too far. We won’t kill we won’t.”_

_“They deserve it, they told us we’d be better dead. We proved them wrong. We’re better alive. We don’t need any of them anymore. No one needs any of them anymore!”_

A quiet voice spoke over the shouting and arguments that followed.

_“But it will still hurt.”_

_“Hurt yes.”_

_“Pain don’t like pain.”_

_“Make it stop.”_

_“Stop. Not good. Needs to stop. Don’t like it.”_

_“Getting rid of them will stop the pain.”_

_“Not it won’t.”_

_“But what if it does?”_

_“Not it won’t! It will only get worse!”_

_“But~”_ A sultry voice emerged over the others. “ _What if we think outside the box?”_

_“Outside?”_

_“Outside. Box.”_

_“What box?”_

_“What box?”_

_“Box?”_

_“We can make it stop,”_ The soothing voice continued. “ _stop the pain. Just think outside the box. **We can remove ourselves from the equation**.” _

_“Remove?”_

_“Remove. What remove?”_

_“Means die.”_

_“Die? Us die? Not us. We don’t deserve it.”_

_“But don’t we? We don’t do anything. We aren’t necessary.”_

_“Others deserve it! Not us!”_

_“But we don’t want to hurt anyone.”_

_“We don’t want to hurt Seto.”_

_“See? Better if we remove **us**. No one has to know. We can disappear. No one will care to look, no one will have to know. We just have to do it really well. We just have to be smart. We’re all smart.” _

_“Won’t it hurt the others?”_

_“No. They won’t have to know won’t they? They don’t have to know. We just have to be careful see. Just be hush. Plan it out meticulously like our stories. Account for every variable.”_

_“The forest. Suicide forest. We walk it, we don’t have to explain. No one has to know. We could just disappear.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Forrest.”_

_“Good plan.”_

_“We could make it stop. Not far from here. One train. A few miles of walking. We could get there.”_

_“We have enough money. We have a hat. Could avoid any surveillance systems.”_

_“No one would call though would they? No one cares.”_

_“No one.”_

_“None.”_

_“Yes, we just manipulate them. We tricks them. Seto was smart. He found out what we do. Why we have to remove ourselves now. They were right. We were selfish. Worthless.”_

_“Selfish.”_

_“Greedy.”_

_“We need to eliminate ourselves.”_

_“Bad. We’re bad.”_

_Stop,_ You whispered back to them. _Stop._

_“We are. We’re helping you. We’ve always helped, haven’t we? You trust us, we were here for you before everyone else. We think this is a good plan. You can stop hurting. We can stop hurting.”_

_“Yes. He found out. He found out we really like him and it disgusts him. It disgusts him that someone as weak as us would dare to like-like him.”_

_“Yes our fault.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Ours.”_

_“We should have left him alone.”_

You closed your eyes as exhaustion kicked in, you vaguely heard the door slam open.

You briefly had questioned why the stranger left their shoes on.

They were rude.

* * *

 

_**The Section has ended: Do continue** _

Kaiba starred at your comatose body, staying right there where he was beside your hospital bed.

The doctors had assured him that you were simply malnourished and dehydrated. But Kaiba knew that was only the physical condition, the mental condition was most likely one that was very different from your mental injuries.

He cursed himself again.

You had put trust in him and he just scoffed at it. All his efforts gone.

He put his foot in his mouth in the worst way possible.

* * *

 

You woke up blearily to beeps and the smell of sanitation.

You turned your head, looking straight into crystal clear blue eyes.

You jolted suddenly, a gasp wrenching itself from you as you felt a twinge. A hand clamped on your shoulders as it hushed you quietly.

“You’ll pull out the drip,” The voice and its deep rumbles cut through the chaos of your mind. You almost didn’t recognize it. It was authoritative, but also gentle.

It was so freaking _weird._

“I’m sorry.”

You blinked at him, somewhere, a voice yelled to put it back on. But you were so tired. So exhausted, you just couldn’t gather the emotions that were running across your mindscape. You could only stare at him.

“You didn’t deserve that, I spoke to Mr. Shimada, he…explained things better.”

You noticed that the handsome man had a black eye.

“He forced me to see a new perspective,” A small, weak smirk was on his face. “that psychiatrist of yours has a powerful punch.”

He brought to your attention a battered, old, yet familiar notebook. Your eyes were half closed, still exhausted, but his voice was currently still cutting through the fog.

“I’ve suspended the project indefinitely. You don’t have to work on the movie if you don’t want to. If you decide to- that will be up to you,” He continued to say. Sighing as he brushed the battered cardboard cover with a thumb. “I’m sorry.”

You couldn’t stay mad even if you wanted to. You could read it all.

You could see quite clearly there was a tiredness in the man before you, his eyes were tired, his clothes were astray, and his eyes were heavy with bags. It was something that you didn’t expect to see in his eyes.

Your hand lifted weakly, your other hand was slightly impaired but you managed to lift it weakly if just short of the other. Signing tiredly.

 _“They almost convinced me to go,”_ You tapped weakly against your head. 

He nodded, hand up and holding your wrist, leaning over you press his lips gently against your forehead.

“You’re staying. Regardless.”

You couldn’t help but worry a little bit when you couldn’t find it in yourself to doubt his words.

* * *

 

The next few days were…tense.

Kaiba watched as you tiptoed around him, he would be in the kitchen when you would enter the room, freezing before turning straight around and locking yourself back in your room. You had been excused from school by the phycologist, deeming that you needed a mental health day for the next few days after receiving news. In which Kaiba was also slapped behind the head very roughly by said doctor, while Kaiba was annoyed, he couldn’t exactly feel much of anything except for anger at himself.

He sighed as he leaned back into his office chair within the manner, eyes burning from staring at the screen for half the day. Frustrated, he opened his eyes to find something on his desk. The door clicking quietly behind.

Kaiba looked at the folded up paper before reaching out, unfolding it.

_The Dragon stared tiredly in his chair, windows usually lit with cerulean sky dim with storms of anger. Drenched in the mist of guilt. Hours had come and gone, eyes were tired but his mind was ablaze with thought. The screen of his computer bled into colors of spots as he blinked._

_Tired he was. Tired he will be._

_And yet, the being behind the door watched in quiet concern._

_The hydra rested quietly behind the door, its other heads were quiet, for once. Yet concern still held for their fellow lizard._

_Forgiven was the dragon already, yet the hydra didn’t know how to say when the other heads kept taking control and snapping at it._

The ink of the pen trailed off after the period, there were pencil marks were it seemed to repeatedly be written and erased. Leaving the paper slightly crinkled.

Kaiba pulled out a paper before proceeding to write.

* * *

 

You looked up from the corner of your room, laptop resting on your knees when you heard something shuffle behind your door, a small note having stuck under the door. Wedged behind the bottom of the white door and the dark blue carpet. Resting the laptop on the door, you crawled over to where the note was. You pulled back the sleeve to grab the piece of paper.

A hood was cast over your face, the black cotton coat wrapped around your form and buttoned up near your shoulder. The sleeves brushed over your hands and stopped just below your thigh.

You unfolded the paper, neat writing (written in English, much to your amusement) going across the page in disciplined strokes. While it wasn’t Japanese, you could tell from the way the letters were written that it was done relatively quickly.

_The Dragon looked up from his computer briefly, hearing the door to his lair click with a quiet echo throughout the room. The Dragon walked outside his office, walking back and forth._

_Whispers echoed through the halls, one voice hissing one after the other. Yet the main head of the Hydra never spoke. The Dragon turned the corner to observe the main head stay silent under the whispers of the others. Snapping at each other. The Dragon felt anger, watching the heads arguing one over the other in discussion of the Dragon’s presence._

_The Dragon met eyes with the main head, blinking._

_The Dragon bowed its head, acknowledging. The main Hydra head nodding back, snout curling at the corners slightly in a minuscule sign of acknowledgment but never speaking._

_Forgiven he was? No, the dragon would never feel that way._

_The Hydra however, sometimes made him felt like he was._

The corners of your lips curled up slightly as you finished reading.

* * *

Kaiba was working in his office the day after when his email dinged with notification from an unfamiliar account. Frowning, he examined the subject before clicking.

_ The Hydra and the Drake _

_Long before the dawn of unity there were two serpents, alike in shape and nature, counterparts in everything but mannerisms. Light as the brightest stars was the Dragon, ruling over his kingdom of art and games. Hundreds upon thousands of creatures clamoring for a glimpse of the Dragon’s work._

_The Hydra ruled within the darkness of their void, whispering stories of heroes and mythical beasts fighting side by side with those who would listen. Scribes and children would come near their void to hear the whispers of the Hydra. Influencing the people above with stories of deeds._

_One day the Light Drake heard news of the Hydra’s stories, listening to the retellings of the Hydra’s stories. Then as time passed, the Drake heard of where the Hydra told their stories. Flying over to the void where the Hydra resided, the Hydra, having listened, whispered stories to the Dragon. One day, the Drake stepped into the void. Watching as the Hydra stayed in the corner, not speaking but chained to the pit bellow. Demanding destruction and obedience. The Light Drake came and destroyed the chains, bringing the Hydra with it._

_The Hydra, unsure of the opinion of others hid behind the Drake’s commanding presence. Hissing stories of bloodshed and thirst to others who would seek the Drake out. Ignoring proclamations of fear as the Hydra loomed quietly with its several voices hissing to each other._

_Then one day, a wise old man came to the Light Drake. Talking of the philosophical nature of the what the Hydra was. The Drake, temper as quick to flame as the breath bellow his stomach hissed and confronted the Hydra. Breath lit with venom as he demanded answers._

_The Hydra, surprised at the truth fled the Drake’s cave. Heads whispering in betrayal._

_It was deep into the faraway lands where the Hydra had moved, contemplating actions. The voices whispered to flee further into the world. One suggested fleeing back into the pit of the abyss. Another, the voice that breathed poison raised a suggestion to go into the faraway lands where water flooded into deep trenches. A place where no one would reach the Hydra and bubbles of air would carry the stories to the surface._

_Just as the Hydra contemplated this suggestion, a soldier attacked in fear, cutting several scales in the process as the voices outraged. Attacking the soldier and getting cut for their trouble._

_As the soldier was about to make the finishing blow, the Dragon came in a flight of thunderous rage. Roaring at the soldier and taking the Hydra’s body, fleeing back to its cave._

_As time moved forward, the remaining and main head rose from the others. Already the whispers of the others rising as the heads slowly reformed twice-fold. Yet the Dragon loomed nearby, head cast down in nervous apprehension._

_The Hydra, confused once again whispered cautiously in rumbles and clicks, yet cautiously did not approach the Drake as they would have done before for fear of the roars of the easily angered one._

_The Drake dismayed slightly at this, but rested it’s snout over the last remaining Hydra head. Leaving and guarding the entrance of the cave._

_The Hydra waited, the heads growing back and whispering to each other once more. Telling the main not to trust the Drake again, not to give the Drake the opportunity to give the Drake the opportunity to attack the Hydra._

_Yet the main head looked at the dutifully guarding Drake with consideration._

_The hydra started rumbling quietly at the voices, moving the subject away from the Drake and creating a new story._

_The hydra bumped its head lightly to the large Drake as the moon flew high upon the midnight black sky, glitters of dragons breathing fire around themselves. Whispering a story to the Drake’s listening ear._

Kaiba blinked at the story before looking at his schedule in deep thought.

* * *

 

Your eyes snapped open as you heard the quiet shut of the door, moving up from your spot from the floor and doing an army crawl where the large manila folder had been placed.

You opened the folder and your lips twitched into a smile again.

On the stiff board of the watercolor paper was a completed drawing of a White Dragon standing outside a cave entrance. The head of a Hydra peaking forward, jaws open with invisible dialogue while the other heads receded into the darkness. Colors meshing into the lines and background as the grains of the watercolor paper feathered out in corners where color had meet color.

* * *

Kaiba looked up as you sat down in front of him. Taking a piece of bacon from his plate and eating it with a pronounced crunch. One hand waving around mid-description as you proceeded to gesture how you were undecided between having a different plot for the manga or just having it be the exact same as the movie with deviations of perspective unlike in the movie or book where the focus was on the main character.

Kaiba thought about for a moment before responding.

* * *

_A/n: Alright now that was a_ doosy _, but yay resolution? None the less my apologies for the lateness; I had gotten rather swamped with work that I didn't even get a chance to lift up the top half of my laptop._

_The top half of this chapter came rather of a surprise but also a bit of a relief for me. While I have never injured myself in any way, shape, or form. The thoughts depicted in this chapter are fairly close to my reality (though very rarely). I felt that having such a way of thinking would be most appropriate for an individual that has been put into such situations. The issue now arose as to how I would have our dear reader and Kaiba reconnect with each other. So the depiction here is by no means a solution, but I felt it was a step in the right direction when it comes to this story. As the reader is objectively aware of the "Front" they put in different situations and is in constant fear of that being discovered. Kaiba's confrontation (though deliberately poorly handled given that this is Kaiba) is what causes the proverbial push over the edge. It is in this case where I felt the Hydra depiction of the reader was more appropriate since it has multiple heads and thus "voices", each pertaining to a different part that contributes to the decisions made by the main head. (At least in this story) in which case, the part of the reader that still hears and records the negative comments by their dick parents and other individuals that have contributed to this voice's ammunition is thus accumulated into this, rather seductive (in ideas) voice that is most likely the worst villain in this story. More of it is to come, as we'll soon see. But to those of you who face your own Negative Hydra Head, keep pushing forward, I believe in you._

_I also feel that Kaiba does have a little bit of storyteller in him since he would have had to approve of any story/plot of any product he releases. So I took that idea and ran with it while I was doing a staring contest with Kaiba._

_The figure. He was just kind of sitting there waiting for me to get my ass in gear and start working again._

_So yeah, I hope this chapter lifted you up a little bit from the crash that was the last chapter. (I always. Always. Feel frustrated when there's an angst chapter with a waiting time for a solution) so this two chapters in one day_ is _my apology to you readers for the lateness in_ updates _and that emotional train wreck. Sheesh._

_Anyway, as some of you may know, I am fairly young in age department and learning how to drive is a subject that now comes up frequently (I live within the state of California in which driving is kind of a luxury that makes your life easier) so...any suggestions?_

_**Dedications To:** _

_**Sakuchwan:** I'm glad you enjoyed the insults, let's hope you enjoy pain and suffering along with it. None the less, thanks for reading. And I offer an insult that I came up with yesterday while I was reading post-civil war fanfics that have the tag "Tony Stark Protection Squad" as an alternative to "Fuck you" or "up yours". That is: "GO FIND A PINEAPPLE AND SIT ON IT". Enjoy. _

**_HibiscusMist:_ ** _Yes, Joey, do not tease the man. But Yugi would absolutely bring that level up a notch since he knows both of them. He'd be salty about not being the first to do it too. A King of Games has to get his laughs from somewhere after all? None the less, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this roller coaster_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _Kaiba is absolutely tsundere. And an ass. Have I mentioned he's an ass? He might be a fine piece of one but he's still also an ass. Also yep, I was wondering if any of you would catch that reference so cuppa coco for you! (because I don't want to give you coffee, there's no connection between me giving you coco and your username is merely coincidental//passes BEWD themed mug// Thanks for reading!_

_**Leaf-Ripper:** Yeah, socializing is the same issue with me too. Though I can do it when my parents aren't around, being with them makes me fall back to their opinions and thus I develop this already made assumption that my opinion isn't needed. I think I've helped them realize that and they're making attempts to allow me to "loosen" so to speak. Or at least that's the impression I'm getting. None the less, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed that roller coaster!_

**_Vex:_ ** _Mon ami, I feel you when it comes to reading reader insert fics. While I don't consider myself nonbinary, I also feel that I am not confined to one gender. Usually, I switch between depending on my uses but I do not mind whether I'm referred to either male or female at any given time (honestly it's more for my personal privacy to hide behind this put forth persona that is partially true in terms of who exactly I am.) I can understand your frustration none the less of being (Most likely very much unintentionally) left out since a large majority of fics tend to have a dominantly "she" pronoun. Not that it's a bad thing but a large majority of fanfic writers tend to be she's themselves and thus it translates to the works produced. I also feel that people who identify as neither or as he deserve a little something for themselves, (also given the fact that I often think of myself as more male than female in reader inserts) so the idea of these came about. I thank you and commend you for gaining the courage to comment as I understand how intimidating that tends to be. No it does not make me feel weird and I hope to see your comments on future chapters. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the emotional roller coaster!_

**_Addi:_ ** _And here it has updated, twice! Thanks for finding this story so enjoyable and overlooking my several, numerous grammar mistakes (dyslexia tends to be the main cause of this and my laziness to edit before I post a chapter) I hope you enjoyed these chapters too!_

**_You:_ ** _Thanks for Reading and have a wonderfull morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!_

**_Extra:_ **

_Anyone know where I got Kaiba's wifi password one? //suggestive eyebrow wiggle//_

 


	9. The Tenth Brings The Way Forward

Chapter 9, The Tenth Brings the Way Forward

* * *

 This was _fucking exhausting._

You stared accusingly into the blank, black retina screen of your laptop. Line blinking accusingly at the end of a sentence to notify you that yes, you had just spent the most part of _two_ days typing out a novel. A full, two-hundred-and sixty-page novel that was size eleven in _Times New Roman,_ in _English._ It was worse than that one essay you had done in high school, which he didn’t exactly give you a limit, but you _had_ done a twenty-page essay detailing why people shouldn’t be bound to their culture. Which was stretching it and you did sort of go over the limit of sources so…there _was_ that.

But shit, ever since writing that one off story about two freaking _mythical_ creatures, you just sort of went to town. It was like the floodgates opened and now you had no choice but to put the idea to paper because this shit was plaguing your dreams for a better part of three sleepless nights. Now you had, well, _this._

Your back was killing you, you had had nothing but crackers, water, and the odd soda for the past two days. Unhealthy but hey, it was better than eating _Cheetos_ (a lot cleaner too, but you weren’t going to say that it was the real reason for the change). Internally you could practically _hear_ Boy Billion giving you that judgment filled stare down.

That being said, you were kind of disappointed with yourself that you had been avoiding each other. Disappointed, but you knew why. His whole pushing people away episode set him back _way_ behind on the level of companionship you had with people. Jounouchi-kun was a friend, his sister was an acquaintance, you were apprehensive being around Duke. It was a system. Kaiba initially had been approaching _holy shit where have you been_ level, with Yugi being _right_ under it. But now it was more in between _this guy’s gonna stab me in the back anytime now_ and _aw fuck but I totally get where he’s coming from_ which was a fucking _struggle._

You had a feeling that was Kaiba’s train of thought too, all things considered, he really had pulled all that impulsive shit just to make sure you kept writing. Which- well it was _technically_ a mutually beneficial thing, but it hurt where you didn’t know it _could_ hurt. It hurt _badly._

So yeah, you were still wary of him. Good thing the two of you weren’t going to school because that would be awkward as _fuck._ All things considered, you were willing to bet your laptop that Kaiba wouldn’t let you do what you had said you were going to do and keep the fangirls off his back. Which- well you were kind of tentative. The voices were much quieter about it, which was a surprise considering, but you still held on to a small sense of apprehension that poked in there every once in a while.

Plus you were avoiding each other, so there’s that.

Tired of staring at a screen, you got up and shut your laptop closed, turning towards the door and walking out. Twisting your spine backward to hear the satisfying pops of your spinal segments going back to place. You walked, barefooted across the carpeted floor before blinking blearily at the bright kitchen. You grabbed a box of cereal, _American Cereal_ you realized with a snort as the familiar orange tiger greeted you on the navy blue box, and poured it into a bowl you had grabbed. Setting the box down when you had padded across the slightly chilly tile to reach the milk box.

You sat back down on the stool and dived your spoon into the white pool, the sound of crunching cereal between your teeth filling the kitchen.

It was bright for early in the morning, but that was always how it’s going to be for a country that was technically named _Origin of the Sun._

You felt movement beside you and a seat screech, a bowl placing itself before grabbing your box of cereal.

So Boy Billion had a fondness for Tony the Tiger. Noted.

“You’re finally out of your pit”.

 _“And you’re finally out of your cave,”_ You shot back in quick movements, sticking another spoonful of cereal into your mouth. _“We’ve been avoiding each other.”_

“Obviously.”

 _Fuck_ , you thought back to yourself. _This is fucking awkward._

You couldn’t really think of anything to say, it was all very tense and full of awkward and fuck, he was too damn handsome for you too even think straight. Then again, that may not have been a thing you were doing even before meeting him. But damn, practically everything you were thinking of somehow involved the word fuck, it was starting to get old. You needed a new curse word to spice up your sentences with. _Quiznak_ maybe. One of your coworker’s roommates was bugging them with that for _years._

You sighed, pushing your empty bowl away, noting the pool of milk at the bottom of the bowl. Turning on your seat and leaning your chin onto one hand, staring at him.

“What?”

You continued staring.                                                                                      

He looked- he looked _ridiculously good._ It wasn’t fucking fair. His chestnut colored hair was muzzled on one side, indicating that he actually slept on one side, which just so happened to be his right. His eyes, while the same brilliant cerulean blue that you had thought was just Photoshop on magazines and press images ( _fuck they weren’t-)_ was bleary but alert. His frown was smoothed with indifference, and he was wearing a shirt.

Not a pajama top, an honest to god, _shirt._

Granted he had pajama bottoms that covered his long ass legs and ended in some posh looking slippers, but the black shirt with the V-neck was giving you some serious heart palpitations. Which yeah, it _did_ tell you that you still were harboring a pretty damn big crush on the billionaire giraffe. The shirt was probably Egyptian cotton with some ridiculous thread count too- but fuck if it didn’t make him look good.

Just- _damn._

 _“You’re just not fair,”_ You signed one-handed with a huff before grabbing the bowl and chugging down the milk. Putting down the bowl with a firm _clink._

“What the hell are you referring too?”

You gave him the bird.

* * *

You starred in bewilderment at the crowd currently around the building. Your expression clearing saying _What the fuck?_

Kaiba gave off a grunt of displeasure before removing his blazer, making your eyes turn to muscles hidden under the closely fitted button down-

 _What the fuck?_ You thought again, alarmed, backing up fruitlessly into the leather seat.

Kaiba threw the blazer over you, obscuring your vision and grabbing your hand. Guiding you out of the seat and onto the pavement, the sounds of camera flashes and screams (yelling? Fuck you couldn’t tell-) drowned out your senses to the point where you couldn’t even hear your _own_ internal voice. You could feel body heat to your side though, as well as another imposing figure to the other side, just out of arms reach but you had the impression it was there. Letting you know that it was probably Roland given that there was a rather _large_ gap. Meanwhile, you could feel Kaiba pressed against your side. The person closest to you was too tall to be anyone else. People who were that tall tended to be a bit of an anomaly in Japan.

You could sense that you were walking into the elevator when the blazer fell off from you, falling into your arms and blinking at the bright LED lights of the elevator.

“It was only a matter of time,” You caught the end of Kaiba’s speech. The rest of it was tuned out as you deduced that it had something to do with the paparazzi outside, which meant that someone posted online about someone’s significant other. Which automatically got the attention of several interested parties which- ah. Since your identity was mostly a secret as an author, it would be only a matter of time till people dug deep enough to find that little fact out. Plus they’ll also find out about your parents which would raise questions which would, in turn, dig up this whole bag of worms that really wasn’t in need of being dug up.

Ah indeed.

Still, the consideration of covering your face to protect your (admittedly) pride scored Kaiba some points back to where he was previously.

None the less, you frowned in thought. Paparazzi, you found, were like vultures that only dropped their pray when nothing was interesting. They never, however, truly left that bag of meat alone. Circling around to see if they could still peck at it for something. Granted they weren’t as fascinating as the actual bird, but none the less one could learn much by studying the other. That left the issue, of course, of dealing with the said human equivalent of the Vulture. For they would most certainly be willing to stay in front of the office for days if not weeks. If people could line up for releases of the latest smartphone coming from a company labeled after a fruit, then they could certainly wait for a few juicy pictures. 

The only _other_ way to get rid of paparazzi is to have them focus on something else, someone else, _anything_ else. Which would be difficult without the right situation.

Like throwing your parents under a bus, which was not an option.

_Waste of space._

_Oh do shut up,_ You mentally called out in the most BBC Sherlock like as possible. It helped quiet the voices sometimes. Sometimes you made it sound like Kaiba because well- it really would be something that Boy Billion would say.

The thought made you cackle at how easy it was to hear Kaiba say it, mentally at least. It was like that phenomenon where if you are into 21st-century culture enough you could hear Morgan Freeman say something like _“Hello”_ easily. The voice was iconic.

You blinked within the shadow of the coat when you heard the door shut closed, Kaiba in his seat and you somehow seated on the couch. Curled up with your legs on top of the white couch crisscross style.  You didn’t remember moving here, nor did you remember being moved here.

You needed some damn sleep.

Your eyes, apparently agreed with you as your lids began to feel heavier. Your shoulders sagging with an invisible weight, as your jaw opened with a quiet, huffy _yawn._

Outside of the coat, Kaiba glanced at you from the corner of his eye. You had seemed slightly dazed since arriving to the elevator and Kaiba had attributed to the lack of sleep.

If Kaiba had checked up on you quietly during the past night, you certainly weren’t going to know about it.

The yawn only confirmed his suspicions as a quiet croak managed to escape your voice box, your shoulders slumped with an invisible weight that seemed oddly reminiscent of an ancient image. The heavy jacket finally was lifted and moved aside into your lap. Your eyes were partially closed and slightly shiny from tears that developed from your yawn. Your tongue darting forward to soften slightly cracked lips.

You were tense, Kaiba could tell that much, but you weren’t apprehensive. Wary but not entirely closed off to him. Which was good all things considered, as Kaiba still intended to make up for his stupidity. Whatever the case, wariness in your eyes when you looked at him left him angry at his own actions.

He looked back at his computer as he watched you settle into the couch, your head crashing on a nearby pillow.

Roughly an hour later, Kaiba got up to attend a meeting. Moving over to slightly adjust your position so you wouldn’t find yourself waking up with your head pushed against the carpet. Grabbing a nearby blanket to throw over your slightly curled body and the jacket that you had tucked over your torso before leaving the room.

If Kaiba saw a small hint of drool on the side of the pillow, he wasn’t going to be the one to mention it.

* * *

 

You woke to the gentle shaking of someone on your shoulder, your eyes opening and finding yourself under a dark blue blanket that was soft to the touch.

“Sorry,” The secretary, you vaguely remember. “Mr. Kaiba told me to wake you up for lunch?”

Though it was a statement, you heard the question as you nodded and sat up, the soft blanket pooling against your side as you wiped off dried saliva with a grimace. It was a good power nap, but you could smell the katsu chicken. Your stomach leading the way as you grappled for a grip to pull yourself up. Eyes slowly adjusting to the room bathed in afternoon light.

“Here you go.”

You nodded in thanks as you gently gripped for the Styrofoam filled with the source of the smell.

There was a silence as you ate, a calm one. Only the occasional murmur of offhanded thoughts filled the silence as you finished up lunch. It was odd.

But not unpleasant.

What it was, was lonely.

In the isolation of the office, you sighed. A blanket of an ache blanketing your mind like a fine mist. Getting into every crook and cranny.

The ache pained, as expected, the frown not helping in its containment. Not like it would have done any good- but it allowed bearing of the pain to be at least slightly easier.

Your shoulders slumped, your mind quieted with silence, the tendrils of thoughts passing by in ghosts of wisps as you sat on the couch. Styrofoam pushed off to the side, bits of rice and food still in the foam. Your appetite lost to your thoughts.

The door creaked open, a sigh reaching your ears as you turned around.

Kaiba seemed- tired.

Not that he wasn’t before, no matter how much the man practically prowled through life getting what he wanted on just willpower alone, he was still a human. A person. Who got tired. Needed to eat. Probably should have a better sleeping schedule- but that was neither here nor there, and it wasn’t as if you couldn’t be accused of doing the same thing.  

He closed his eyes, breathing and scowl set deeply into his face.

As he opened them, the two of you met eyes. Staring each other down before he looked away, shoulders hunched just slightly.

It was so out of character for Kaiba you almost had to do a double take to make sure you were talking to him and not some sort of absurdly similar doppelganger.

You stood, walking in front of him at the door and standing before him. Eyes slightly narrowed and looking at him up and down. However much he managed to fuck up your trust- you still considered him a friend at the very least. No matter how much he bemoans the fact that _yes_ he has _friends._

 _“You okay?”_ You asked, your eyes staring into azure blues. _“You don’t look right.”_

“Your eyes must need checking, you’ve been staying up late,” He dismissed.

You rolled your eyes at the deflection, not even a _good_ insult. Honestly, you were a little insulted by the lack of insult, as confusing as that was.

 _“That’s bull,”_ You signed, expression in deadpan. _“Something’s up with you, you’re not even giving me decent insults. What’s going on?”_

“What makes you think that _anything_ is going on?” He retorted, eyes narrowing. A familiar spark of annoyance filling your blood with relief as you recognized _that_ at least. At least when he was annoyed he was one step closer to being the pain in your ass you’ve come to know.

 _“Because_ ,” You freed a hand from its duty to poke him in the chest. _“you’re acting weird. And that’s not just because of leftover guilt from blowing a gasket a few days ago. We’ve already talked about that and we’re okay now. Awkward because your timing is shitty with my shift in hormone balances but the point is that the two of us are **okay**. You- however, are acting like I’d up and tell the press a sob story just to watch your stock market prices go down with an evil Dio style laughter to match. You’re angry, tense, and tired- at this point, I kind of **expect** you to blow something at me- **anything**. But you’re being actually nice to me- which means that something is seriously wrong because the only person you **act** anywhere **near** as something like this is with **Mokuba**. Not”_

You sighed, panting from physical exertion before breathing deep, eyes slipping closed for just the slightest of moments before opening them.

_“I’ll ask one more time, what’s going on?”_

As he slumped, you could see himself physically unwind. His previously relaxed posture grew fully tense and guarded. Fist clenched tightly and anger deeply etched into his facial features. It was a lot closer than normal Kaiba than the fake show he was giving.

“Nothing.”

 _Bullshit,_ you called out mentally. Resisting the urge to click your tongue.

 _“Look- I get your still angsty about a few weeks ago. I am too- it’s hard to feel the same kind of relaxed unguarded state with you right now compared to how it was before. But while that may have affected our relationship- you’re still the guy who pulled bullshit to get me out of an abusive home. You’re still the same dork who nabbed me into a movie deal as some kind of demented hero worship. You’re still the same dumbass who decided that a broken piece of shit like me is somehow the person you wanted to be seen within a romantic relationship. **You** did all those things you prick. You’re a swirling sack of self-contradictory bullshit that’s so complex you’ve got me looking left, right, and upside down to understand what the hell is your deal-  I haven’t known you long but I do know that we’re alike in more than just shitty parental figures. So trust that I know **you** well enough to know you’re slinging me some kind of bullshit, so cut the crap and tell me what’s going on,” _You signed. Exhausted but still looking at him with a determination you didn’t know you had.

You supposed in the end, you still cared a hell of a lot. Shitty outbursts and all.

He looked at you with a relatively surprised expression as he seemed to absorb your rapid signing. You say expression, but really it was just his eyes. His expressive, too blue eyes that showed so much if one was observant enough to catch the micrometers of movement as his mood shifted.

He sighed, “Why the hell are you so good with words?”

You shrugged, a smile threatening to rip your face wider than the grand canyon, _“I’m an author. It’s a requirement.”_

He stepped around you, going to his chair and practically crashing into it with how much weight was dropped into what must have been an expensive chair. His legs crossing probably automatically as you slid in the seat in front of the desk.

“You are many things,” He muttered quietly. Almost too quietly for you to hear, but your lack of speaking for a long time in a lonely, huge house developed your ears quite well. “But you’re not broken. Stupid.”

You smiled, _“I can’t be a good author if I’m stupid.”_

“True. But that doesn’t mean you’re not an idiot,” He retaliated, giving you a deadpanned look that gave away his mirth. “Why do I deal with you?”

_“Because you love me.”_

You froze as you finished signing that. A mental mantra of _shitshitshitshit_ running through your mind like a racing horse that utilized the same spine technique as a cheetah- on steroids, running from a two month starved pack of wolves. Or humans. Probably more humans. Humans were scarier because they did not rest eventually- and they could outrun _wolves_ if they trained their stamina enough.

That or you were reading too many _Humans are Weird_ posts on tumblr- but in your opinion, there was  _never_ enough.

Your eyes had turned downcast, Kaiba watched with a lopsided smirk as he watched your mouth move with nothing but silence coming out. It was a habit he had begun to see more and more the longer you were around working outside your room. Your entire body flinching every now and then as if your mindset was in one of your stories.

“Unfortunately,” He said quietly. Giving you a challenging smirk with an eyebrow raise that he knew you found it the _slightest_ bit annoying. “If you’re unhappy with that I’m sorry to say that you’ll just have to accept the reality of the situation.”

Blinking. You sat there and gaped at him before you shook your head, giving him a look of faux shock.

_“You have **feelings**? Holy shit.” _

He rolled his eyes.

 _“BUT!”_ Though you couldn’t speak, he could slightly hear the volume coming from you as you signed animatedly. _“Don’t think you got out of telling me things- now what’s getting at you that you look like you’ve just dealt with twenty Jounouchis in a span of an hour.”_

“I wasn’t aware that you knew my thoughts on the mutt.”

_“Stop changing the subject.”_

He sighed, turning his chair to face the now nightscape of Domino City. His fingers twitching into a fist just ever so slightly that made you realize that he wasn’t just tired- he was close to being on _a warpath._ It was a sense of calm before the storm that yourself getting tense as you detected it.

Throughout your life, your focus was mainly on to be quiet and stay out of the mindsight of your former financial caretakers. It was the instinct of being aware when someone was _mad_ that helped you avoid issues for the most part. So as you watched tense shoulders and twitching hand, your instincts wired for a quick escape from the room. A weariness creeping up to the forefront of your mind.

“Someone has kidnapped Mokuba.”

And just like that- you were pissed.

* * *

A/n: I DID IT PEEPS. IT IS DONE. HAH. SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG, THE MIND WAS STUBBORN. 

ALSO, MY MOTHER CALLED MY KAIBA FIGURE OUR VERSION OF ELF ON THE SHELF OVER THE HOLIDAYS (Backstory: She kept moving him/dropping him so I kept putting him back where he was- in a bag that hangs on a shelf knob)- I WAS BALLING. HE'S NOW STARING ACCUSINGLY AT ME NEXT TO LEVI (AoT) 

ANYWAY. YES. IT'S DONE. HAH. 

**Dedications To:**

_**Sakuchwan:**  Thanks, and sorry this went so long but it  **is** out now eventually. And the little internal self-depreciating monologue is sort of a reflection of how I think when my mood gets low- which is both bad and good. Bad for me- good for writing! Though it's nothing to worry about due to its infrequency. Hope you enjoyed this chapter~_

**_HibiscusMist:_ ** _I hope this is a little improvement of the sudden forgiveness- as we can see the parties are both sort of feeling its aftereffects- which I feel would be more natural for these two logic-bound individuals- but I understand that this is indeed unrealistic. But as a backstory this is actually how I tend to be upset with people yelling at me, which tends to make me more withdrawn and clipped- paired with general avoidance. Nonetheless, since this also tends to be with my parents/friends (still under 21 here in case ya'll are wondering) I tend to forgive relatively quickly with bits and pieces of resentment. Well- I'm beginning to ramble so I'll just say that I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading~_

**_Leaf-Ripper:_ ** _....I dabble in a little bit of drawing- I could try if you like? It won't be good but I could try. None the less, thanks for reading~_

_**Aegis_Ventus:** YES. MY UNCLE GAVE ME THE CARD FROM HIS OLD COLLECTION (WHICH HE DOESN'T REALLY VALUE ANYMORE SO- THEY'RE MINE NOW) BUT YES. HE WOULD TOTALLY MAKE IT THE WIFI PASSWORD. THANKS FOR READING.   
_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _You can never have too many dragons, my friend. I'd add dragons to freaking everything probably. Dragons everywhere. And as an explanation since what Shimada said is funky- the short version is that Shimada was surprised that Kaiba had found himself bringing someone who visibly lies. The reader doesn't speak, but they lie through their body language. Burying their actual feelings because of what would happen to them if they didn't prior to meeting Kaiba. What Shimada meant was that it was interesting that Kaiba found a person who lies as a defense, who literally changes their mannerisms and body language to avoid detection. More than that, Shimada wanted to let him know that this sort of thing can also be detrimental- a bit of warning that something, as concealed as that, could yield explosive consequence if done too much without venting. That might be confusing- so just think of it like he was giving Kaiba a heads up about the reader's mental disposition, indirectly telling Kaiba to be careful. What Kaiba interpreted as was a warning that you were manipulating him, as Kaiba is a naturally suspicious person due to his background. Hence //makes a shrug towards chapter seven and eight// the subsequent mess. Hope that cleared it up, but thanks for reading once again!_

_**Sugoi_Potato** (Your username holy crap): //LE GASP// GO AHEAD AND READ THE FUTURE THEM THE HYDRA/DRAKE STORY IF YOU LIKE. I DO NOT MIND ONE BIT. IF YOU LIKE OF COURSE. IF YOU EVEN REMEMBER ANYWAY. GORSH. ALSO HERE YOU GO, AN UPDATE. SORRY IT'S SO FREAKING LATE. Rapid capslock typing inside, thank you for the compliment and I hope you will enjoy this and future chapters~_

**_You, The Reader:_ ** _Thanks for reading! Have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening and g'night!_

 

 


	10. The Eleventh Brings Vehemence

Chapter 10, The Eleventh Brings Vehemence 

* * *

To say that you were anything but calm would have been a bit of an overestimation. By all means, you were a raging ball of fury. Yet, Kaiba observed much to his amusement, there was a sudden stillness in the way you acted. Your face open yet eyes hardened to the cold ice of the Arctic.

You typed into your personal computer quietly, speaking to people over the internet. Your job as an author hadn’t come easy, especially because you were underage. Your relations to several people around the internet who happened to owe you some favors were now going to find themselves cashing in. Kaiba almost missed the loud click clack of the keyboard, now replaced with a steady active _tap_ of several keys being punched in rapidly with little to no error. If Kaiba were to be a normal teen, he would have been rendered stupefied by the sudden change in behavior. However, fortunately or not, he wasn’t. Your behavior wasn’t a surprise now, and it was almost welcomed.

Kaiba knew from the first time he witnessed your interactions that you were a chameleon, you manipulated yourself in order to get the best out of any situation. While he had been angered by it before (without good reason, he quietly reminded himself) to be able to observe it so clearly allowed him a perception that he hadn’t expected to find.

It was interesting, he quietly noted, the way your expression would remain flat. Yet with every time your pinky tapped enter, your eyes shifted. Your entire body tilted just slightly, shifting shoulders, your knees shifting direction ever so slightly. Your lips at an almost liner straight line as you stared into the screen of your computer. It was like watching you work, except instead of getting yourself into the world of your creation- however temporarily it might be, you were bringing someone else in. Using their skills, their calm, their emotions and abilities as you weaved through the motions with deft fingers. Sliding each silk to their designation just before awaiting things to fall into place under your guidance. It was the type of manipulation that would have made him immediately do everything he could to make sure you stayed the hell away from him if he hadn’t known you before witnessing this.

He would have been lying if he said he didn’t find it even a little attractive. But he would have also been lying if he didn’t find it absolutely terrifying.

It was unnerving to see that much barely restrained rage in anyone, no matter how calm the person looked to be. That sort of suppressing wasn’t healthy, even _he_ didn’t go to that extent. Unconsciously seeking Yugi out for a duel whenever the feeling rose.

He was even more afraid of what would happen when that dam would burst.

At this point, he would have no doubt that if you had been the one behind the issue with the Rare Hunters during Battle City, you would have obtained all three god cards with little to no issues. No matter how much he would have rebelled- you would have gotten your way. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Watching as you suddenly shifted out of your trance was equally as fascinating as watching you perform with it. The mask slipped, the ice in your eyes was tucked away and hidden. You stretched as if to physically shed the person you had emulated as you closed your laptop. Blinking blearily before directing your eyes at him. The calculating arachnid from before now neatly put away, out of site.

_“Bathroom.”_

Kaiba nodded, slightly suspicious as you walked out.

* * *

 

When fifteen minutes had passed without your return, Kaiba didn’t hesitate to grab your laptop and open it. A simple message on the screen.

_Found something you need to see_

_File.zip_

He opened the file that was already opened, a document coming up. Your name written at the top with an image of you. An offer of money for your deliverance alive.

He closed the laptop with a heavy sigh, a headache settling over his mind more rampant than it had been for the past few weeks.

With a snarl, he hit the nondescript button on his office phone, “Roland.”

* * *

You stood patiently as the taller, six foot five man beat down the so-called kidnappers with ease. Even in his unusually long school uniform, Jotaro Kujo was an individual to be reckoned with during a fight.

“Good grief- what these guys do to piss you off?” He wondered, voice flat with disdain as he slammed one man into the wall. Bones snapping slightly, much to your satisfaction.

You waited for him to turn before you responded, _“They kidnapped the brother of a friend of mine.”_

“Damn,” He looked down at one of the other ones, who quickly scrambled up to run away, a slight wetness in their trousers. Much to the disgust of both of you, “Good grief.”

You shrugged, you didn’t care, as long as the lesson was learned. You don’t kidnap Mokuba. That sort of targeting wouldn’t stand anymore, not while you were around to learn that someone had the gall to do it. He was a sweet kid that had nothing to do with the butthurt feelings people had with his brother.

“Still,” Jotaro said offhandedly, inspecting the building before the both of you. The building, if your sources were correct, was where Mokuba was hidden away. “You normally don’t let me go all out.”

_“I’m not usually this…”_ You paused, pursing your lips in such a visibly annoyed expression that Jotaro could imagine you staring down your subordinates in distinctive disdain. It was a sight rarely seen by anyone, buried deep down into yourself that it never usually saw the light of day. For most who know just how your home life was, it wasn’t a surprise. That much suppression only resulted in a bigger explosion. _“indignant.”_

“I think ‘indignant’ is an understatement,” Jotaro responded as you walked over to the door and kicked it open. Following you into the door as you wielded a borrowed stick with accurate and precise movements.

In comparison to Jotaro, you weren’t nearly as strong. Nor were you nearly as large, nor defensively inclined. The most experience you had in fights were video games. But you were angry, and that meant that you just didn’t give a damn.

Jotaro quickly pitched a rock to knock out another guy out that was going for your side, which you actually _walked_ on while swinging the stick like a claymore. If he were not so concentrated on letting you blow off some steam he would have done a little more than just knocking people out, but you seemed to be doing well enough that he didn’t need to be concerned.

For now at least. 

“I haven’t seen much of you since you moved to an actual school,” Jotaro said with a grunt, arms moving mechanically.

Instead of responding with your hands, you kicked your foot with rhythmic differences, ranging from quick taps to more dragged out ones.

_“New. School. Weird. Met. A. Guy.”_

“I assume he’s an ass?”

_“Why. Ask.”_

“Because I am, and you seem to be okay with me.”

You snorted as you moved out of the way of gunpoint, allowing Jotaro to deal with it as you waited and smashed your stick into the side of one guy’s ear. Silently taking pleasure in the goon’s grimace of absolute pain.

Jotaro hummed at himself as he saw your lip twitch in a smile.

“So who is he?”

_“S.K,”_ You kicked, gripping the hair of one of them in your hand and bashing them into the wall.

Jotaro blinked for a moment before looking at you incredulously, ”S.K? Seto Kaiba?”

You hunched over slightly, you could hear Jotaro’s quiet chuckle as the heat began to climb to your ears.

“Well, well, well, and here I thought I was going to have to drag you into meeting people.”

You rolled your eyes, kicking, _“Shut. Up.”_

Unlike others before you, Jotaro found you particularly interesting, and unlike Kakyoin, you hadn’t tried to kill him the first day you met him. In fact, the day you showed up was when you were going to take the exam to prove your proficient learning ability, you stared at him before looking at the unfinished work in his lap. A twitch in your eye, he found you quickly snatching the work and moving through it with speed and pencil. Completing the work for him.

While Jotaro would never claim that he didn’t bully anyone to get his way, he never made anyone do things he himself needed to do. It wasn’t how he worked nor was it something he would ignore if he found out on the street. The confrontation between himself and you lead to you angrily signing how pissed off you got at unfinished work.

After that, Jotaro was intrigued.

You didn’t come to the school often, nor did you seem to hang out with anyone afterword.  Yet whenever he did see you, you were one of the few people who never seemed to piss him off. Quiet, you spoke plainly, and your body language reflected your mood. You were the easiest and simultaneously the hardest person to read, at least to him.

At the distinctive tapping of his name, Jotaro pulled himself from his musings, watching you tilt your head towards a squirming thug under your foot.

“I’ll only say this once,” Jotaro stated simply, walking over and looking down on the thug, injecting his words with mild boredom. “before my friend here gets impatient with you- where’s the kid?”

“I-I don’t know where the kid is! They just told us to look out for another brat-“

You let out a soft _tch_ with a click of your tongue focusing your weight on your foot and onto the thug’s back. A scowl dead set into your face as you whipped out a phone and started rapidly texting.

“S-she said to bring the-the kid back to that rich place if you came- that’s all I know! Honest!”

Jotaro hummed and looked at you, watching your scowl turn deeper. It was both fascinating and utterly terrifying considering the level of effort one would have to go to in order to get you that angry- excuse him. _Indignant._ You were a person who modified themselves in order to have complete and utter control, you couldn’t afford unnecessary outbursts. Especially when you had the threat of your former financial providers pulling away their resources before you were ready, well, _her_ specifically, but that was neither here nor there. Instead, you used that generated energy into something you thought of as more efficient, whether that be staying up for over seventy-two hours to write a story or constantly obsessing over a certain project. It varied depending on mood, and just how much emotion you decided to push into a different direction.

Without mercy, you slammed your foot into the back of the thug’s neck, effectively knocking whoever it was out while you walked off in long strides. Your fingers still flying over the screen of the cellphone Jotaro had lent you.

“So where are we going?” He asked, cautiously blank, as you walked out of the building with a quick slam of your shoulder into the door.

With one hand, you signed a simple word.

_“House.”_

* * *

Beyond irritated, you kicked down the door. When that failed to open it, you let out a long-suffering sigh accompanied with a growl from the back of your throat. Hostility coming off you in waves as you glared at the too pristine white door before you. Ignoring the throbbing pain climbing through your legs.

“Easy,” Jotaro said. Readying his own leg before busting it down, the hinges still holding splinters of wood.

You twitched, breathing in deeply before slowly releasing. Willing your irritation to phase just under your skin, not easily willed away as it was, you could feel your shoulders relax even just a little. Though the frown was set permanently into your facial features for the time being.

You nodded at him, Jotaro tilting his head slightly before walking in. Between the two of you, he knew he was the one with faster reflexes, thus he could dodge when necessary. As much as he wanted you to vent out your emotions (for once), he was not going to sacrifice your safety for it.

You walked behind him, stiff as a board and ears straining to catch any stirrings of sound. Balling your feet in habit to soften your footsteps, rendering you virtually invisible to anyone who was listening. Glancing at Jotaro as he watched the corners of the house with experience. While it would have been strange for anyone else, you knew there was something more going on when he went on that trip with his grandfather to Egypt.

You paused, a familiar scent of perfume filling your nervous system. Your body reacting immediately, back straightening, face blanking, shoulders pushed back. Jotaro noticed the change and stopped, glancing as he visibly watched you tuck inside yourself in a blank shell. Devoid of expression.

You gave him a passing glance, a signal to stay put. Breathing deeply and staring forward, and moved.

Jotaro didn’t want to listen to you, but against his better judgment, he stayed behind. Moving upstairs to see if he could find this kid that you were so concerned about.

He just hoped that the bitch wouldn't do anything stupid like try to say she did anything for you. 

* * *

 

“Well, well, well, you came at last.”

You starred foreword, irritation once again bubbling at the surface of your face at the sight of the plastic, Botox filled shit head that just happened to be the one who carried your fetus.

“Well? Aren’t you going to say anything? For once?”

Red lipstick, fake hair that cascaded down to artificially enlarged breasts, fuck, did you wish you didn’t share chromosomes with this woman. Why- oh why could shit heads like her become candidates for parents? Secretly you wondered if it would be so bad to sell out your own mother to the Camorra. Or even better- to the Circle.

It couldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t common knowledge that they happened to be international underworld mafia groups wouldn’t it? It would be so easy just to make a quick stop to the dark side of the internet again to ask for a small favor- it wasn’t as if anyone would miss the plastic bag anyway.

“Speak,” the bag growled. You sighed, pinching your nose in between your thumb and forefinger before digging out gloves from your pocket and putting them on. The gloves glowing with a familiar blue. Mokuba’s brilliant-brilliant idea.

_“Where is Mokuba,”_ You signed, the gloves translating the movements into words. The speaker of your other phone speaking from your pocket.

“Oh- so you aren’t a useless little shit after all,” The bag sneered. _Really,_ you thought to yourself, restraining from a long-suffering sigh, _Seto makes better insults than this piece of painted plastic._

  _“Where. Is. Mokuba,”_ You signed. Slowly, the translator somehow making your words seemed suffering- you had to absolutely get him a present now. You mentally pursed your lips at the thought, _what do you get a kid who’s brother is a billionaire anyway?_

“The brat’s fine,” The Bag, as you’ve taken to calling her, bile rising up your throat every time you even mentally _whispered_ the supposed title that belonged to the feminine parent. “Now about your relationship with one Mr. Kaiba- now _that_ was something I never expected. Here I thought you were just defective.”

You rolled your eyes, _“Yeah sure, tell me something **new** why don’t you?” _

“Don’t talk back to your mother you useless piece of shit, now either listen to me or the brat goes through an unfortunate accident.”

You gave her a dead look, the intense you glared multiplied ten-fold from hanging around Kaiba for such a long period of time. Heat and ice colliding as pure unadulterated _rage_ filled your veins at an unprecedented scale. So much so that calm overtook you, the absolutely _worse_ reaction you could have had.  

_“You hurt that boy I will see you **buried alive** ,” _You signed. _“Mother or not. Relation or not. I will not tolerate **anyone** hurting him. Not you. Not anyone else, and especially not because you want leverage over me.” _

“Big talk,” The bag sneered, limbs mutely trembling at the amount of danger the reptilian part of whatever was left of her brain recognized. “You _need_ me remember? You’d be _nothing_ without me and my money.”

_“I’ve been living with quite an impressive sum for two years now,”_ You said, a smirk at the forefront of your expression. _“And it’s **Dad’s** money you manipulative gold digger. I don’t give a shit whether I’m actually his kid or whatever lie you told him. I took the time to send him a nice **long** email while he should drop your ass in a ditch somewhere- I expect that’s why he’s out.” _

“As if he’ll listen to _you,_ compared to _me_ his _wife,”_ She sneered, blood draining from her face.

_“As intelligent as you would have to be in order to perform such a task,”_ You signed in an equivalent of a drawl. _“Nothing beats the rage of finding out you manipulated dear old dad’s old flame into breaking up with him under threating said flame’s little sister. Boy did he have quite the email to send me. But of course- I knew he wouldn’t believe just my words, I’m not stupid. You made sure that I’ve got at least some working brain cells, got to have the heir all primed and proper isn’t that right? A couple of forwarded emails, written letters, my my- did you leave quite the breadcrumbs. Took a while to find of course- but I’ve kind of been working on this for **years.”**_

Trembling with rage, she walked up to you, nose looking down at you while she was in her devil Pradas. Then again, even Lucifer might be a little insulted by that description.

A cold metal pressed into your front, barrel familiar, you absolutely _knew_ that it was gun pressing right above where your sternum should be.

The dangerous part was that you only felt _satisfaction_ at her loss of control.

For years, _years,_ you’ve been living under this poor excuse for a homo sapiens’ thumb. You used what should have been your childhood trying to impress this insult to female dogs internationally. That energy turned into bitter motivation that you channeled into your writing, your father then knew only married this plastic piece of tar because he thought you were actually his kid. Which even _you_ didn’t know whether it was true or not. Every sneer, every fired employee, every manipulation of the people around you, every order that this _thing_ gave filling you with an ugly bitterness that built up into this one hilariously cliché moment.

_“Don’t break a nail now,”_ You signed with a sneer.

“Fuck you,” She shrilled, barrel pressing even more into your sternum. “Fuck you, you ungrateful little-little _piece of shit._ You know _nothing_ about what I’ve done for you.”

That- that was the last straw.

You quickly ripped off your gloves, casting them off to the side and sinking your currently long nails into her arms, the wet feeling of blood rising to your fingertips as you shoved the gun away from you. A growl ripping from your throat in a loud, crackly wheeze.

It was a struggle, the both of you fighting for control, but only you were younger, you had the benefit of being able to kick out her legs from her nine-inch heels. Toppling her over, you nails raking over flesh in lines of red as you lifted up layers of artificially tanned skin.

You didn’t even recognize someone calling your name. You didn’t even feel the arms of someone trying to lift you up and away to your side. All you could think of was ripping. Her. Apart.

It was exciting.

It was satisfying.  

It was absolutely terrifying.

There was a gunshot fire that made you pause, your eyes turning to the direction. Red growing on a white suit that made your eyes widen. You could feel the woman under you freeze, hand going limp as she dropped the gun.

You looked up, blue eyes calmly looking back at you.

“You’re better than what she thinks you are,” He said quietly, much to your horror ignoring the red growing at his side. “prove it.”

Kaiba could hear little else other than the rushing roar in his ears, he could only see you as the blank furor slipped away completely. Replaced by complete and utter panic. 

He struggled to maintain consciousness, gritting his teeth at the blooming pain in his side as he felt shock seeping its claws into his system. Your hands catching him as he fell, the woman who was presumably your mother shaking in horror. Your mouth was moving. Vaguely he could hear sharp wheezes of protests coming from someone, though he wasn't sure where. Instead, he focused on you, making sure that the violent furor that had overtaken you earlier didn't escalate into a bloody rage. 

He absolutely did  _not_ want to deal with getting you out of jail. 

In the meantime you had quickly abandoned the trash as soon as you noticed, rushing to catch him before he hit the ground with a thump, fingers flashing to a phone, calling an ambulance.

Your mouth was moving, you didn’t know if any words came out even as people rushed to your direction. Your panic soon overtook as you witnessed him slipping out of consciousness. 

You struggled with a group of men as they pulled you away, your still red hands reaching out in desperation.

You screamed his name.

* * *

 

A/n: Have to say, this is one of the chapters next to the last one that has been planned out since the beginning. This was always where it would end up eventually. 

And damn- was it pretty morbidly fun to write. 

Not only that, but this sort of build up was something planned not only because I wanted to write the reader go into a violent rage (which I have to admit is a little therapeutic for me) but because this is one of the few ways I can think of for the reader to pull a Kaiba and get rid of baggage. Sort of a shaking the bottle till it pops sort of deal. I hope it was kind of obvious that it was leading through this, if not in the story than throughout this chapter. If for Kaiba it's building a fucking elevator to space- it's the reader sinking their nails into the one person who made their lives the way they are.

These two only do extremes, they're made for each other really. 

Anyway, chapter 11  _is planned_ I just need to figure out how far I want it to go without moving to chapter 12. But that's for me to worry about and you to wait for. 

**Dedications To:**

_**Sugoi_Potato:** Also yeah. Ehehe- don't worry he's okay. (Well maybe not right now but he will be. We'll get to that soon) and did you guess whom? I mean it was a little out there already but I hope you got it right (and I agree you are a very sugoi potato). Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!_

_**HibiscusMist:** Hah- well- you got a little more than that and technically there is suffering but mayhaps probably in the way you didn't really expect. (And I am not done with angst oh nonono) And in all honesty, I was thinking "Alright now what would be the most Kaiba way to say the L word?" and then I realized that he wouldn't say jack shit but he'd sure as hell say something to make the reader blubber a bit. If he was just confirming the truth well- that was his business. ANyway, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!  
_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _1) Frosted flakes is my favorite cereal next to cheerios. 2) My friend was annoying me with watching Voltron for fucking months so I gave in and watched it. I have the same feelings towards Lotor as I do towards Kaiba except for the fact that the thing I have with Kaiba is fucking four years old and I don't really hate/L-word Lotor as much as I do Kaiba._

_...it's complicated. 3) I have a shit ton saved on my phone. They are my favorite. Especially when they involve Star Trek. Also yeah....Kinda took him away again. Hahahaha- hah. Also yeah- reader did pull a midnight coffee. If that meant going into a berserkerker level rage that is. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!_

_**Leaf-Ripper:** Well- it's not exactly the Gods' fury but yours? It's basically the same thing? Eheh? Heh? Anyway- I'm still working out kinks of the drawing but I have a basic idea started so you might see that if I ever get the time to finish it. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!  
_

**_To You the Reader:_ ** _Thank you for reading, have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night! And if your heart clenched a little- I'll take that too._

 


	11. The Twelfth Brings Results

Chapter 11, The Twelfth Brings Results

* * *

 

When Kaiba woke up, the first thing he saw almost made him sit up rapidly.

The bags under your eyes told him you most likely had stayed up until you knocked out from exhaustion, there were bandages wrapped around your neck, arms, and the back of your hands. Lines of scabs littered just outside the white tape in occasional patterns, your nails were cut far shorter than they should have been. Redraw as if you had tried to scrape something out of them.

Blood, he could vaguely remember.

Wincing, he remembered that he had, in fact, been shot the last time he was awake. Slowly lowering himself to the bed so as not to jostle you too much into being awake. Especially after you had looked like you had just fallen to sleep.

If he would make a guess, he would have thought that you did those things to yourself.

The idea wasn’t farfetched. As intelligent as you were, you had the profound ability to be by far the stupidest person he had ever met, and that is _including_ Katsuya.

Despite that, he was glad you were alright. If not for the damages you had apparently done in his absence.

_Ridiculous,_ he thought, combing his hand through your hair and ignoring the slightly greasy feeling. _Absolutely ridiculous._

Feeling you stir, he stilled as your head tilted up and blinked at him tiredly. Half-lidded eyes looking up at him before reaching up to touch his hand in your hair. The other brushing resting near his side, where he could feel the heavy weight of bandages.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” He said quietly, feeling your fingers brush against the hospital ground on top of the bandages. “It had nothing to do to you.”

Your eyes told him just what exactly you thought about that.

“Despite what you might think, not _everything_ is about you,” He whispered, throat slightly dry from waiting for so long. “You didn’t make her pull out the gun.”

You closed your eyes and nudged your face against his side, not fully facing him and deciding to close yourself off.

“You only get to do this once,” he said, mildly ignoring the growing wetness where your eyes would have been. Rubbing circles on the side of your head with his thumb as he pretended to ignore your shoulders shaking. Waiting until you finally stilled and regulated your breathing before he too closed his eyes.

* * *

He wasn’t surprised to see you were missing when you woke up. What he didn’t expect was to see a sizable stack of paper next to his bedside, the room a blue eyes blue due to the nature of his status, it seemed oddly ominous even in the soft light.

He shortly realized that it had a post-it stuck onto its front.

Reaching out, he grabbed the parcel, realizing that it was one of his copies of _Knights of Atlantis_ written in a stylized text. The spine of the book filled with wrinkles from its use.

Kaiba was never one for fictional stories, but it had been the only one available at the time and it was either that or to actually have to listen to the drawling voice of one of Domino’s _many_ incompetent teachers. Once he read the first chapter, he picked a copy of his own shortly after. Finishing the book within a span of a few hours.

While it may have been a fictional story, the Knights of Atlantis had an end fit for a play tragedy. Two out of the three knights forget about the one, that one traveling the world by themselves in hopes of regaining the confidence and sense of normality they had lost towards the end of defeating the calamity that had struck Atlantis. Upon that knight’s return, they witness that life had moved on. One knight was successful and was in line to be the next king, the other knight had become a celebrated hero. The last knight, the knight who lost their confidence stood in the background. Stoic and unable to reconnect, yet there was no bitterness. Only the cold silence of emptiness. Turning into a dragon themselves, as the calamity before they had.

And that was how it ended. No fantastical end, no truly happy ever after. The knight was left traumatized by their interaction, some flourished, they did not.

The story was closer to home than he would admit.

He sighed, opening the book to find a lined paper fall out, it looked yellow from age, pen lines hastily scratched out before starting in your familiar chicken scratch.

_As much as Timaeus wanted to speak with them, they restrained. Their one eye slipping closed in silence as sadness overtook their feelings._

_“Despair little knight,” The calamity had said. “For I curse you with silence, and with that silence. You shall never feel peace without a price.”_

_Bitter jealousy swept across the pallet, for what good were they if they did not offer solutions._ _What sort of knight were they?_

_What sort of hero, were they._

_With feelings of bitterness, Timaeus left Atlantis. Searching the world for the loneliest island, to live alone. In silence. In a distant land, in the far-off sea, where hurricanes and storms hit the land by the hour, Timaeus rested against the cave. The roar of the ocean around the land a deafening sound against everything else. There was chaos, and in that chaos there was silence._

_Only in the cave, there was another._

_“Why have you come Knight of Atlantis,” The rumbling voice said. Silver scales glinting in the shadow of the cave. Eyes glowing ominously._

_Without words to speak Timaeus stayed silent, closing their eyes in acceptance in what may be their death._

_“Well? Speak.”_

_Frustration overtook as Timaeus rapidly gestured in how they **could not** speak, that to do so would mean disappointment. Just as the Calamity had stated, they were never to be left at peace. _

_“You say you do not speak yet you do right now,” The other said, amused slightly. “Sounds are not the only way to talk.”_

_Pausing, Timaeus stilled, before gesturing. Sounds may not be the only way, but they were the way that mattered. Without it Timaeus themselves was useless._

_“And I had thought you more intelligent than the others,” the other rumbled. “it seems I was incorrect.”_

_Timaeus turned in equal parts shame and compliance._

_“Make yourself useful,” The rumbling on in their deep voice._

_Timaeus shook, for what use were they to anyone like this?_

_“Tell a good story, Little Knight, you have traveled far. Surely you know of a few stories to tell without words.”_

_Pausing, Timaeus breathed, then gestured once again while they sat. Arms moving as they retold the story of the three Knights against Calamity._

_Over time, Timaeus knew the sound. For the other in the cave had rid them of their silence. In that cave, Timaeus knew peace._

The end of the paper trailed off there,  a new set of ink set into the first page of the book. Right under your signature from what felt like years ago.

_To the pain in my ass,_

_I thank you._

_(the movie is back on schedule and past the script phase)_

* * *

Once he was able to check himself out (well beyond the allotted time but it wasn’t as if Kaiba couldn’t convince them otherwise), ready to sleep in his own bed after two days of insufferable hovering at the hospital. Removing his coat, he paused. You were there, sitting cross-legged on the bed with your hands under your chin.

You looked up at him.

Instantly he was irritated, your eyes had deep bags under them. Your shoulders slumped in both mental and physical exhaustion. Your sign was slower than usual, far slower than when you had stayed up working. Which frankly was a situation he preferred far more. Your fingers were still cut far too short.

_“You’re back,”_ You scowled at him, accented by the dark crescents under your eyes. _“Earlier than you’re supposed to be.”_

“And you greenlighted the movie script despite telling you that it could _wait_ and you happened to be in the middle of recovering. In case your dead-end mind can't seem to process that I'll have you know that _you aren't supposed to be working._ Despite that I'll have you know I’d much rather recuperate where there aren’t any imbeciles,” He took a glance at you. “though of course due to the current situation I seem to have forgotten to factor in existing facts.”

You cracked a smile at his (feeble) attempt to make a joke and hide his worry, but it faded away faster than Kaiba needed. Frankly, it was more than a little frustrating.

_“I talked to my Father.”_

He rose an eyebrow, “I need a transcript of the conversation in order to file a lawsuit.”

He took a considering look at your expression, “And a restraining order.”

You waved your hand weakly, _“No no- **I** went to talk to him. He was…apologetic, much to my surprise. I told Mokuba not to tell you.” _

“Any particular reason for that?”

You shrugged, _“I didn’t want you overreacting.”_

“I don’t overreact.”

_“Yes you fucking do you dramatic billionaire giraffe,”_ You signed quick, bits of your amusement coming back as you smirked at him. _“Don’t deny it you petty dork, who the hell jumps out of a helicopter?”_

“It served a purpose.”

_“Making you look like a giant ass? If so congrats, it truly did wonders. And you told **Yugi** to get a hobby outside saving the world.” _

“I wasn’t aware he remembered that,” Kaiba muttered to himself, finally crossing the room and throwing his jacket haphazardly against his chair. A little uncharacteristic but you weren’t about to fault him for being tired. His movements slightly stiffer due to the slight bulge of bandages underneath his shirt.

_“You used the word dweeb. As an **insult**. My **gods** , you are such a fucking dork,” _You signed with a small smile.

Kaiba refused to dignify that with a response. Lying down next to you where you were sitting, a small breath of relief as he released the weight he was putting on his wound. To which you winced and turned your head quickly, attempting to smooth out your expression.

Kaiba pretended not to see, but he was still rendered frustrated by it, “You’re being stupid again.”

You shrugged, _“The guilt is strong with this one.”_

“Your father,” Kaiba diverted, which you appreciated but chose not to voice. 

You laid down on the soft pillows, staring at nothing in particular, _“Yeah?”_

“You discussed speaking with him.”

_“It wasn’t much,”_ You shrugged at him. _“I never even knew he knew sign. We didn’t talk, it was mostly just with my…carrier. I think somewhere, he resented me for existing.”_

Kaiba didn’t refute that, it wouldn’t have done any good.

_“But I **did** find out something interesting.” _

“Hn.”

_“Akiyama used to have an old flame in college, he moaned about it a lot when Takano-san got him drunk,”_ You signed, lips curling in amusement. _“He gave up but he never told anyone why. Even Onodera-san couldn’t get it out of him and he’s the closest person to him.”_

Following your line of thinking, Kaiba added hesitantly, “And your father’s old flame is _Akiyama_.”

You snapped your fingers, pointing finger guns at him.

“That is absolutely ridiculous,” Kaiba said, his facial features pulling into a scowl. To which you gave a weak grin.

_“Some might say it’s fate.”_

“I don’t believe in something as ridiculous as _fate_ ,” Kaiba said with a hint of a sneer.

To that, you snorted, _“Please, you just don’t want to take back what you said to Ishtar-san.”_

“ **You** weren’t there when _that_ ridiculousness happened,” He accused.

_“ **I** wasn’t, but **Yugi** was,” _You said, finally breaking into a full-on shit-eating grin.

He looked away with a huff, telling himself that he wasn’t going to dignify that statement with a response even as he felt the rush of relief filling him that you weren’t _that_ far gone. At least not to the point where your sense of being a pain wasn’t gone. He hadn’t even known that he missed that stupid grin and your sass until it disappeared in the wake of Mokuba’s kidnapping. Not that it would have been appropriate, but it was still something.

You gave a dry chuckle under your breath, sounding dry more than anything with some wheezes of noise that Kaiba realized was very likely your voice.

“You realize you have what is most likely the most violent outbursts of rage I have ever witness?” Kaiba mused. “I had suspected as much when you kicked that one imbecile, though even I didn’t think you’d do any more than Katsuya.”

You paused, turning to him with a perplexed frown, _“I do?”_

“You can’t have _not_ noticed,” Kaiba said looking at you. “What sort of writer are you to not recognize that you have _anger issues?”_

You shrugged, moving your hands in nonchalant movements, _“No one’s outright said it to me before.”_

“Akiyama must have noticed,” Kaiba stated with a flat look. “He didn’t interrupt you when you started cursing at me.”

You paused, racking your brain for a brief moment, _“There was that one time I punch a guy for trying to take my laptop.”_

Kaiba gave you a look that indicated that you were going to tell the entirety of the story or else face some unknown consequence. Which you weren’t going to test considering this was _Kaiba._

_“So I may have thrown him into the wall and aimed a kick at his plexus- it was a perfectly reasonable reaction after finally completing the second book and heading straight to the editing office, the laptop had the only copy at the time,”_ You signed, growing flush. _“And Akiyama **may** have had to pull me away- but you’d be pissed off too.” _

“ _I_ wouldn’t have wasted my time on a lonely thug when my goal was to create several copies to ensure a manuscript's continued existence,” Kaiba stated in monotone, enough that you could tell he was hardcore judging you.

The lighthearted atmosphere (at least you were relatively sure it was) died down slightly, a sober feeling in the air taking over and reminding the both of you of your exhaustion.

“You screamed,” He murmured with reverent realization. The weight of what happened _actually_ kicking in for him. The fact that you actually spoke, screamed, however, it was you still managed to duke out a sound from your reluctant voice box.

You shrugged, grin softening into a smile, _“You shocked me to it. How else was I gonna react?”_

“Are you recovering somewhat?” He questioned, turning his head to look at your expression. You frowned in concentration, mouth moving but overall silence filling the room.

Then you shook your head.

_“No sorry.”_

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “Don’t be stupid if you can’t today then you can’t. It’s not as if you’re refusing to talk consciously. Even if you couldn’t till you died, why would I blame you for it? Don’t insult my intelligence.”

_“You’re cute when you try to be supportive,”_ You signed before releasing a burst of air in a silent sigh. Smiling when Kaiba turned his head in the other direction, a small hint of pink creeping up his ears before you eased yourself into lying down on the bed. Closing your eyes and allowing the darkness to take over and tug you into the silent peace of slumber.

* * *

A/n:  _Eyyyy, I got it out on relatively on time. Much wow. Much proud. I also have chapter planned out relatively well, and while the first arc mayhaps is done. Another shall begin. We ain't done yet._

_The process of healing is a long one after all._

**Dedications To:**

_**HibiscusMist:**  I'm glad you liked it! Also yes! Dad kind of makes an appearance! Sort of- he's mentioned, but he's not done either! I'll delve into more as the story continues don't worry! There's a reason why I have Onodera and Takano here after all //wink wink// Hope you enjoyed this too!_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _Yeaaahh that was wayy more therapeutic than I expected, glad you found it awesome. But yeah, you could blame the Bag if you want for getting Kaiba shot- but it wasn't as if it hit anything vital so we're good for now if a little stirred. And no- you **weren't** hallucinating, and don't worry- there is more to come about that~ Anyway, the next Voltron season is set to come out sometime this month or so if my friend isn't mistaken, so I suppose we'll see soon enough. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed!_

**_BlookyStar:_ ** _I'm glad you think that it's so great! Honestly, I'm surprised this is coming out the way it is considering the way I write this (relatively little planning with a few noted down points that I continue with throughout/give myself an idea of what I want to touch on in the chapter) and I'm pretty proud of it so far. Minus a lot of the spelling and format errors. And I'm glad you find the reader to be a believable equal- I know its a bit of a dead beaten horse, but I felt that such a way (the slightly similar background and all that) is one of the few ways that Kaiba would ever gain an interest, overall I wasn't sure whether going this route would be the best but I'm kinda glad I did. Thanks for commenting and I hope you enjoyed!_

**_You the Reader:_ ** _Thanks for reading, have an awesome morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!_

 

 


	12. The Thirteenth Brings A Rocky Road

Chapter 12, The Thirteenth Brings A Rocky Road

* * *

 

Coming back to school seemed far more surreal than the events that occurred the days before, which granted, was a pretty surreal experience on its own. Going through the halls, you found yourself oddly calm in the face of the chaos. Though granted, no one was testing your tolerance at the moment.

The bandages off, your nails now back to a relatively normal length, and Kaiba finally recovering from the bullet wound enough that his stitches were removed- the hallway was oddly quiet in an observing way.

You found yourself not really giving a shit.   
Not dissimilar to what seemed like _years_ ago, you found yourself walking through the halls with a _fuck off_ aura around you. Your face held no expression, but that was simply because you were mentally exhausted enough that you couldn’t even will a frown on your features without a little help. Kaiba contributed to the silence by glaring at everyone, daring them to make a comment as you trudged next to him with a hand gripping a small portion of his sleeve. It wasn’t that you were angry, relatively speaking, but there was a familiar exhaustion in your bones. A reluctance to do little else other than to lie in bed and stare holes into the ceiling.

Mentally, you sighed, t’was just another Monday really.

Getting to class was relatively normal as well, except for the woman sitting in your seat. You let go of Kaiba’s sleeve with a sigh (this time out loud), him watching you move.

Without word nor warning, you gripped the edge of her pink jacket you pulled sharply while ignoring the screeches of protests. Practically dragging the (strangely light) woman off of your seat while you sat down with a thunk. Your head hitting the desk with a loud thunk.

“Uh _damn.”_

You looked up in time to see a familiar head of blonde mullet, your raising an eyebrow in question.

“Uh- so you haven’t been around lately- you okay? I mean- Yug’s worried too so I thought I’d ask. Please don’t kick me again.”

You shrugged, grunting slightly while lifting a hand to make a so-so expression. In all honesty, you were probably the most mentally stable in a year, you were calm. No more looming threat of financial terror, no more stressing about Kaiba’s tendency to shove a foot so far down his throat that it comes out the other side. (Which, as you remembered, caused one _hell_ of a massive headache.) So you honestly didn’t feel as easily angered as before.

Well, you also didn’t _notice_ before, but that was another song and dance. But the lack of general annoyance- or _anything_ really was raising alarms in you. Generally, you’d feel something- annoyance at going back to the atmosphere that is _high school._ Given the fact that both you and Kaiba did the assignments at his mansion (you had begun calling it another name but you were in denial), took the tests at the same place, neither of you had much catching up to do. Kaiba found all the work easy and your tutelage had been more advanced than the school work. If anything you found it more challenging when Kaiba forced you to duel him over and over again during his recovery.

His excuse was that he didn’t want the person he was with to be anything less than _proficient_ at dueling- the truth was (from the mirth in his eyes at your annoyance and resigned puffs of sound) the stubborn donkey was bored as hell. But given the fact that you were pseudo the reason for his need to rest and recover, you obliged him. Satisfied smirks and insults to your decisions and all.

If you took a sick pleasure at his annoyed look when you actually managed to one-up him, that was your business. It wasn’t your fault that you had begun integrating some of Yugi’s tactics into your own deck. Using the cloning plus detonate tactic was your favorite thing the King of Games had done thus far- the look on Kaiba’s face at the brown fur ball was _so_ worth it.

You groaned as your head throbbed with the headache of sleep deprivation.

“I told you not to go to sleep so late.”

At the direction of the very much conceited voice, you lifted the bird at him before spelling out a word one-handedly.

_“H.Y.P.O.C.R.I.T.E”_

“ _I_ don’t sleep late on a school day.”

_“P.A.N.T.S.O.N.F.I.R.E.”_

“You’re intolerable.”

You were actually tired, but same difference you supposed, depending on your mood. Regardless of what you felt, the edge of your cheek still remained on the wooden desk. Even after the bell rang, and even more after the teacher walked in to start the class. The bags of your eyes keeping mostly everyone silent, except for Kaiba. Who signed you questions to which you gave scribbled out answers, not about the class, but mostly having to do with the progress of the movie. As well as the approved storyboard for how said movie was going to be shot, actresses and actors, etcetera. Everyone averted their eyes as Kaiba glared them into minding their own business.

 The following hour only left with you trudging in a tired haze. Your mind quiet as you walked outside. One of the rare occasions Kaiba wasn’t around, as he had some business with Yugi. Leaving you to humor yourself for a while.

It was a bit of a relief actually, the man had been hovering for the past few weeks before coming here. You appreciated the thought, but you liked not being trapped within a bubble. 

Then you heard it.

You tilted your head to better hear the whispered sneers of feminine nature. It didn’t really affect you much, you had pretty much grown desensitized to the sneered remarks about you. Generally lamenting why Kaiba had decided to be with you of all people. Picking at your faults, etcetera, etcetera. Really, your carrier was better at making insults that _really_ felt like salted knives dipped in lemon juice and sulfuric acid. Though Kaiba could probably blow them out of the curve in terms of the level of sheer _emotion_ he was capable of putting into a _look._

Really, the only question you had was why they were having this little shindig while it was _raining._

There was silence as you approached, there were three people around in the rain. To which you ignored their shrieks and protests as you herded them inside. Scrunching your nose at their damp clothing.

Instinctively, you motioned. Not signing but depicting images of rain and getting sick. While giving them a disapproving look.

Taking a deep breath, you sighed, wiping the drops from your forehead.

“Why do you care?” One of them raised. To which you shrugged, making belated _never mind that_ movements with a shake of your hand. You could feel the wetness soak into the back of your uniform, much like how you med Yugi, you mused, but other than that you were fine. If a little cold.

Getting them inside and pushing them until you had gotten to the gym section for some towels. You threw a couple at them, making motions to pat themselves dry. Using a hand to comb back your slightly damp hair, the rest of you dry from the heater nearby.

“What about you?” One of them asked.

You patted yourself down, feeling for any sort of damp wetness that would prove that you would need the towels. You had found none at the surface, attributing the dampness on your back to sweat from the heater.

You shook your head, the intention clear even while you left them to their own devices. As confused as they were.

* * *

 

When you went to Yugi and Kaiba, dueling quietly with a familiar solemn pressure around them, taking a chair and sitting quietly next to the table they dueled on. Silent for the most part as they did combos and waited for the other to give an acknowledging nod.

Your nose sniffled as you entered the warm air of the classroom again, having had to walk out to make the crossing. The vastly rapidly changing different temperature made a spot just under your nostril start excreting mucus. To which you ignored in favor of blowing out whenever you could.

Both expressions were calm as they pulled card after card, Kaiba nor Yugi refusing to break the verbal silence as cards were shuffled and placed. You personally found it fascinating.

As Yugi won with his silent magician Lv. 8, he finally turned to look at you.

“We’re you out in the rain?”

You made a motion with your fingers, _“A little.”_

“But you’re dry now?”

You nodded, shifting against the wetness sticking to your back.

“Just make sure your back isn’t wet- grandpa had to herd you to the hospital the last time you didn’t dry yourself properly,” Yugi warned, giving you a suspicious look to which you nodded solemnly. Combing your hair back with your fingers to keep it behind your line of sight, Kaiba watched the motion with equal if not more so suspicion than Yugi did. The small sound of wet breathing not helping your case.

When you signed that you were fine, Kaiba gave a tilt of his head before turning back to duel with Yugi. You watching with rapt attention.

It was just the changes in temperature, you reasoned, no need to get worried about a simple jot in the rain.

* * *

As it turns out, a simple jot in the rain _was_ something to worry about. Which you personally didn’t understand, you were able to get soaked to the bone in the rain and come out with little else than a shiver.

So why is it that you just had to be _damp_ to come down with something.

Sometimes, if you ever found yourself hating fate in particular, you pointed a huge mental bird to a higher power or powers that be if there was one.

“You’re an idiot.”

You resisted rolling your eyes, just this once you weren’t going to point out how mother-hen-like Kaiba was acting. Honestly, you felt too exhausted and too hot to even try.

In perspective, you knew you probably looked worse than you felt. Nothing hurt, but you felt the uncomfortable sheen on your body where things were far too hot then they should have been. Not to mention the heaviness on your chest after letting out a cough train of epic proportions. But no, you could tolerate a cough, you could tolerate the heat, and the heavy weight on your chest.

But you absolutely _hated_ the blockage in your sinuses. And the  _sneezing._ Mother of all things good and just in the world, the  **fucking _sneezing._**

Not only was it uncomfortable, it was gross, it felt bad, and you couldn’t smell things or even _breath_ properly without the shrill _shhlrrp_ of you trying not to let anything drip- and every so fucking often you had to reach up and grab a tissue for an oncoming sneeze or you'd get snot everywhere and that wasn't the _least_ bit as pleasant and it might have been to your average five-year-old. It was annoying to proportions you couldn’t even fathom. 

If Kaiba told you that you were being overdramatic, you just glared at him over the edge of your covers. Forcing yourself to remain under the covers despite how idiotically hot you felt.

“You said that you were fine,” He huffed, giving you a patronizing eyebrow raise from where he sat nearby. His abnormally stilled fingers letting you know that he was worried- the man always reined himself in by _a lot_ when he was worried.

Weakly, you signed, _“I know I did, I thought I was.”_

“How did you even get sick after _one_ day of returning to school?” Kaiba said, a deep scowl on his face. Clearly a mixture of indignant and exasperated with a mix of scowl #6.3 of the  _You fucking idiot_ series with a hint of #1.3-C  _‘why are you like this’_ roll of eyes.

You shrugged as much as you could have while under the covers, the blanket haze of mild discomfort over your brain distracting you somewhat from the overbearing billionaire giraffe. The thought, while nice, didn’t prove to serve you much distraction from the waves of pain across your head. A constant, throbbing reminder of your inconvenient immune system.

All in all, you just sat up in bed, back up against raised pillows that kept you upright. Wondering what would happen next as you mentally soldiered yourself for the approaching frustration to come. Such was the trend of sickness, to get terrible before getting better.

Breathing as deeply as you could as you systematically tuned Kaiba’s henning out, your eyes slowly began to grow heavy. Your medication that you took heating up your body to near unbearable levels as you felt your back begin to sweat. Your discomfort growing exponentially as your body began to heat up.

Blinking and turning your eyes to stare into diamond blue eyes. Delirium close to full force.

You croaked out a couple of unintelligible sounds before blacking out.

All Kaiba got was a sound that sounded suspiciously like  _"Pretty"._

* * *

 

When you woke up again, you blinked as Kaiba sat next to you on the bed. Yourself rearranged so that the bed supported your current position as Kaiba sat in a plain t-shirt and what seemed like silk trousers. Hand sliding smoothly against the tablet screen that idly scrawled through text that blurred even as you attempted to focus on it.

_His hands are nice,_ you noted mentally. _With some callouses, wonder where they came from._

There was a wheeze as air rushed past your throat, nostrils fully blocked and having no choice but to breathe through your mouth. Your throat stinging slightly from the exposure.

_Fuck colds,_ you thought to yourself. _Or whatever the fuck decided to grace my immune system with its presence. Fucking piece of shit._

You grunted, shifting slightly to sit up much to Kaiba’s annoyance. Or at least that’s what you interpreted through his sound of displeasure as he put the tablet away to help you sit up on the pillows.

_I have callouses too,_ you mentally continued as you flopped your way to the position you wanted. _From writing so damn much, who knew you could develop hardened skin from writing and holding your writing utensil in a weird as fuck position._

Due to the strange heaviness spread out through your body, you could only physically wince and move your eyes to give Kaiba a look that you hoped was filled to the brim with questioning. Being unable to talk was bad enough, the inhabitation of your sign was even worse. Your eyes were burning as you closed them, the heat building under your eyelids. Even with your head throbbing with a cascading feeling of a familiar ache, you rose slightly. Squinting at the room around you.

You felt a cool hand press against your forehand, bringing a sigh out of you as some of the ache was pushed back.

At the sound of mild cursing, you raised your eyebrows in an attempt to convey confusion without having to open your eyes.

“You have a high temperature.”

_That fucking figures_ , you thought to yourself. Whenever you did get sick, it was usually bad enough that you got sent to a hospital. Under your caretakers, it had been a one-time thing before they opted to get a house call doctor due to the infrequency of your sickness.

Seeing as how you could move very little else, you only nodded.

Hearing a frustrated sigh, you forced your eyes open as much as you could. Frowning in a sort of attempt to hold back the sharp sting and itch.

“I’m required to attend a business meeting at 10.”

Weakly, and through no little amount of sheer willpower, you lifted a hand and flapped it at him as much as you could. _Go._ You said, or at least tried to say. Slowly curling your fingers while leaving your thumb raised in a sad attempt of reassuring him that you were fine.

“That was pathetic.”

You thought so too, but you were entitled at being a little miffed by his phrasing. Regardless of what you felt, you still flapped your hand again in an attempt to get him to move.

You could hear Kaiba sigh, no doubt moving around in preparation for going to work for the day. In all honesty, you were fine. It wasn’t the first time you had gotten sick and the worst you’ve gotten had been that one instance where you were sent to the hospital for hypothermia. You got better relatively quickly after the initial day of furious sweating and cursing life as you knew it.

Blearily, you vaguely saw him turned back in what you were thinking was hesitation seeing as the man had literally no other reason to stop at the door.

You let out what you hoped was an audible grunt, seeing as you hadn’t needed to use one of them in a long while. What you got actually sounded more like a snorty huff but it got the job done regardless as you witnessed him turn around and leave the door closed with a soft click.

You waited.

And waited.

And waited even more.

Once a rough twenty minutes had passed, you rolled over and did your damnest to get out of the bed.

Though unhealthy, you found the best way to deal with illness was pretend like it wasn’t there.

_That’s the **opposite** of what you’re supposed to do! _You could hear Yugi softly sigh in equal parts frustrated and resigned. But it worked, usually. For the most part.

Besides that- you had been eyeing the switch console with the latest Zelda game ever since you were impromptu delivered into this monster of a house, and with little to no one here to stop you- you were going to _play._

You were probably going to have regrets going against Kaiba’s silent orders to stay the fuck in bed but hey- if you misunderstood look #325.3 in his _Getting you to do what Kaiba fucking wants_ series, that wasn’t your fault. You were sick. You were liable to get your Kaiba look translator wrong every now and then. It wasn’t as if Kaiba _didn’t_ know that you were a pain in the ass when you needed bed rest- and the guy was a hypocrite anyway.

So yeah, you were going to play video games.

* * *

_A/n: This was supposed to go up yesterday- but AO3 was down for a bit and hey, it's out now isn't it? Anyway- been a while- and that fault lies with_ school _as it always is._ Except _this time I have to worry about SAT and AP exam prep for the_ upcoming _hell month that is //hisses// May._

Anyway. While on my week of presentations and homework and essay stuff and overall how to be an adult while low-key panicking- I came up with a new Kaiba insert story idea. It's nowhere **_near_** _fucking done- but i'm thinking it's probably going to be the next multi-chapter Kaiba insert after this. I'll stick a preview under comment responses and see what feedback i'll get. If you've got any ideas- also tell me._

_Like seriously, I know the end- I don't know how the fuck I'm gonna get there._

_**Dedications to:**   
_

_**Blookystar:** Thank you for the gorgeous compliment! In reality, my writing style (if it even is one) is this way because what I'm writing down is what I might think if I was faced with the situation. This particular chapter for example, I'm sick? Great. I hate fucking everything. It's also why I write gender neutral since- well- I don't know if i'm a freaking male or female on any given day. I just know I am. And while I accept and am not uncomfortable (double negative right there heh) with being awknowledged and thought of as my physical original sex, I understand there is a sort of...extreme uncomfortable ness- dislike? To those who are forced into that sort of mold. Hence- gender neutral fics. I digress- but that's what I think why my writing seems so relatable despite the outlandish plot- because it's essentially how a person (me) would react to such an outlandish situation that it just seems...normal? I'm not quite sure how to describe it. All the chapters I write tend to be affected by something that happened in my actual life. Feelings of worthlessness? Happened to me. Being frustrated at the inability to communicate through verbal words and just using gestures to get the idea across? Been there. As for the lack of poeticness- I feel I have some, but I also have a weird instinct for a time and a place. I feel such...flowery language should be saved for specifically thoughtful or just straight up out of it moments- because I really only get flowery with my words when it's earlier in the morning with no sleep or I'm so out of it my head feels like it's floating. Not everyone is this way but it's just how I think about it when I'm writing these things. Sorry for the word vomit but thank you so much for commenting! It's greatly appreciated. _

**_Xaniea:_ ** _And more you have! A little bit less Kaiba- a figure of him I have has been following me around the house suspiciously enough but here ya go! Thanks for commenting and I hope you enjoy this too~_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _Well- a writer's gotta get their narrative somewhere huh? //wink wink nudge nudge// Happy belated birthday (really fucking belated in the name of Ra holy fuck) and yeah. I watched voltron. I have....complicated feelings. About Space dad. And purple cat man._

_An d a Bones-esqe OC named Maxx Frazier who's a doctor because I got frustrated with their lack of doctors in a very dangerous environment that is- space- but who the hell wants to read about oc's- i might actually make a reader insert. In fact- I have one sitting in my laptop when I first started watching. It's pretty funny actually- the first sentence is: "You were going to kill those kids when you got your hands on them". But it's one I specifically built for Frazier timeline and at this point I'm just word barfing. ALso Kaiba is total tsundere. the man doesn't really know how to human. Emotionally anyway- he doesn't_ _do emotions. Usually. Unless its Mokuba then you best believe he's got some how-to ready to go. Anyway. THanks for reading and commenting like always!_

**_HibiscusMist:_ ** _And Dad isn't quite done yet- he has...stuff to work out. And I'll probably spend a couple showing how Yugi sort of...vented about his feelings. Because if the new protagonist of Yugioh Vrains got therapy I don't see why Yugi isn't able to get something semi-similar. Thanks for commenting again!_

**_Leaf-Ripper:_ ** _And the journey away from selective mutism will keep going until I feel some adequate time (appropriate?) time has passed for a more realistic recovery. I'm not a selective mute nor have had any significant experience with such a condition but I imagine that the time of recovery is a whole mess of ups and downs for the particular individual- I'm hoping to be as realistic as plausible. Also yeah- about that drawing //nervously laughs// while I still know what I was thinking- actually transferring it from mental image to paper- or even digital- is another story. So standby on that for now. Thanks for commenting like always~_

**_Dianasaurus94:_ ** _I'm hoping I retyped that right because I'm too tired to check at the moment. Here's your chapter!t THanks for waiting and commenting and hope it was worth the wait! Also yes. Voltron references. There might be a lot of them through out the next few chapters. Thanks for commenting!_

**_You, the reader:_ ** _Thanks for reading, have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!_

**An Excerpt from a potential new Kaiba Reader insert:** _  
_

You locked the door behind you as you stood in the relative chill of nighttime Los Angeles County, the sounds of cars passing by as people began going home from their evening shift. The soft street lights of Old Town illuminating both concrete and passerby bellow. You stood still for a moment, appreciating the ambient noises of the average city street. Your body mostly saved from the chill in the thick trench coat while the bundle of wiggling movement was swathed still in their blanket and loose jacket.

“Wait!”

You paused in your quiet musings, turning to see a young man in a wild mass of black hair and folded suit as he ran towards you. Finally coming to a stop just in front of you in a blur of huffing tiredness.

“S-sorry,” He huffed. Hands on his knees as he kneeled down to catch his breath. Difficult, you noted, when one has a suit on. “I wanted to get to you earlier, but the meeting went longer than I expected and-“

“Woah there kiddo,” You said, smiling slightly at what was essentially a spill of words that shifted off from English slightly into Japanese. “Catch your breath before you choke on air. Me and the kid are sufficiently warm, so you’ve got a while.”

“Right,” The young man seemed to take your advice before breathing deep with a sense of finality. “Alright, um. First thing’s first.”

The young man stuck out his hand, “My name is Mokuba Kaiba.”

 


	13. The Fourteenth Brings the Troubles of Love

Chapter 13, The Fourteenth Brings the Troubles of Love

* * *

Regret wasn’t able to cover it, oh no. Regret was the _last thing_ on your mind as you vaguely starred in horror some 29 game hours later with a defeated Calamity Gannon on your screen. You didn’t want to think about the fact that you had spent an additional hour on the DLC content.

Kaiba hadn’t come home that night, and that was fine. With his line of work, you were pretty damn sure he doesn’t always come back to his own home. Mokuba, being at that age and working on a project (you were pretty sure one of the maids had told you- but you weren’t sure either) you were essentially, alone in the house for roughly the whole day. Sure maids and butlers and your driver came to check on you- but you weren’t coughing, you usually just needed a new box of tissue and a change of trash can, but otherwise- you were mostly just dead set on getting Link to Zelda and beating everything and anything that came your way. You hadn’t even set out on all the shrines and korok seeds that you needed to collect. You personally thanked everything that was good and holy in the world that Jae had been given orders to watch over Mokuba during his little skirmish with his friends. You would have been dead, so dead.

With a certain stillness, you gently put down the console, head buzzing with a familiar victory hum as the ending credits played on the screen.

You didn’t really know what to do after, you didn’t feel like you got any worse. If anything, you didn’t feel as if your internal temperature went any higher. Lower would be more accurate.

A stomping took your attention as your mind snapped to present, looking up at the maker of the sound.

 _“You fucking idiot,”_ Jae signed angrily. _“You know how bad you get when you’re sick.”_

You rolled your eyes, _“You don’t happen to think that it’s because the stress of my fluid sac and other crap was getting to me? All the instances I’ve gotten sick were usually stress related. Once that crapbag went away I got better. It got **worse** when I was caught in the rain and **she** was there.” _

You motioned to yourself, _“I **feel** fine now. I’ve rested. Hell- I’ve taken a nap. My temperature hasn’t gone past hospital point. I really just got a cold.”_

You took a moment to think about the past two days, _“Kaiba probably helped. My Ra his chicken soup ridiculous. I didn’t know it could taste that good.”_

 _“So **that’s** what the whole uncooked chicken was for,” _Jae signed with a thoughtful expression.

Your eyes widened, your head moving backward slightly in mild shock. Your hands moving on automatic, _“He made it from fucking **scratch**?” _

_“Why is that a surprise?”_ Jae flapped, making a face. _“He cares about you.”_

You froze.

_“He cares about you.”_

_“He **cares** about you.” _

_“He **cares** about **you**.” _

You turned your head, face burning.

 _“Really?”_ Jae signed. _“Months of sex jokes and me saying that the guy cares about you is what gets you flustered?”_

Mentally you shrieked in indignity, pure rage as your mind tossed the words around in your head. Growing louder with each repetition.

 _“Cut me some slack,”_ You signed weakly. _“I somehow managed to land myself Japan’s number 1 most desirable bachelor. I’m not exactly completely functional- so **I** can’t fathom how I managed.” _

A familiar expression twitched over your face before smoothing out again, leaving Jae to breathe out in exasperation. Internally she raged at the extent of the damage the poor excuse of a human left behind. While she wanted to make her boss heal faster- she knew that it wasn’t her job. Neither was she prepared to take responsibility when she didn't even have the knowledge. 

Instead, she fell back on more familiar matters, “Even _with that writer’s brain of yours?”_

You twitched again, smacking into a full force scowl as you nodded in agreement, _“It’s fucking annoying.”_

* * *

 

Kaiba sighed, walking through the room. After a few orders to the staff, he found that you had been camping out in the game room. Which- irritation was high, but Kaiba told himself that he wasn’t going to do anything hasty when your mind was potentially twisted with the effects of a fever.

So he was left with one massive issue.

Approaching said door.

Which was ridiculous, he had faced bloodthirsty board members, a melodramatic madman that blew up his blimp, a fourth-rate duelist with a pension for murder. Yet somehow approaching the door seemed to be a more daunting task than anything previously thought of before.

A duel with Yugi is in order in the near future.

He walked in, catching the end of your sign.

_“-fucking annoying.”_

He watched as Jae rolled her eyes, clearly involved, _“Of course it is- you’ve always had control on your life. It makes sense that you would be pissed at not being able to understand what the hell is going on.”_

You shook your head, _“What’s fucking annoying is the fact that I keep waking up to expect this to be a dream.”_

Kaiba couldn’t tell from the back, but judging from Jae’s expression, it wasn’t good. Which meant only one more thing.

Kaiba lifted his hand and smacked it flat on your head. 

* * *

Your mouth moved, a shrill, but brief sound grating the room as you jumped in surprise. Your knees instantly buckling by the fact that you had been sitting crossed legged for who knows how long. You whipped your front.

_“What the fuck?!”_

“You’re being an idiot again,” Kaiba twitched. “the way it happened isn’t important.”

_“But it **is-** it doesn’t make sense otherwise! How else would I somehow get on your radar-“_

Your hands paused in mid-sentence as you felt the ice of his glare- which you had never really felt before. At least till this moment, you had been a first-hand witness to various intensities of The Kaiba Stare. None of them contained  _that_ much anger.

The idiot of the room silenced, Kaiba turned to Jae, who quickly held up both hands and left you alone.

You were still frozen in place- a little more than shocked, but more than extremely surprised as you felt a strong set of arms wrapped around your shoulders from where you had crashed from earlier. High enough that you could still sign if you wanted.

You appreciated the thought.

“You.”

You croaked out a confused noise- which you weren’t sure how- but you thought that grunting in different tones was progress from previous.

“Are. A _massive_ idiot. How is that possible? You ranked right below me in the entrance exam. Or was it that only one of us is using our brain today- and it isn’t you.”

You flapped your hands around, _“I’m not going to ask how you got my scores- but do I look like I know? Maybe stupidity is contagious, Wheeler was talking to me more than before.”_

“And _why_ exactly was Wheeler talking to you?”

You took a moment to analyze his tone, raising the last word higher to emphasize a word, _“Are you **jealous**?” _

There was a pause with tension so thick you couldn’t even get it with a spoon.

_“You **are?!** Wait- why?” _

“You are not seriously asking me this.”

_“Why not? It’s a valid question.”_

Silence overtook the game room.

_“K.A.I.B.A.?”_

Nothing.

_“S.E.T.O?”_

You hesitated at the continued silence, hands moving.

“Did you just call me ‘Blue Dragon Man’?”

_“I’m not wrong.”_

 “You called me **_‘Blue Dragon Man’_** _._ ”

 _“What else do I call you? Man-Who-Loves-Dragons?”_ You signed quickly. _“You can’t say it wasn’t effective, it got your attention didn’t it?”_

“Now I understand why your book is popular with teenagers. Wild and completely out of the realm of any sense of reality.”

 _“Teenagers like you apparently,”_ You retaliated. _“And you have a **monster card** named **‘Kaibaman’** that literally allows the tribute of one blue eyes white dragon monster without the standard two card tribute- you cannot seriously believe that I would believe that the card **isn’t** a self-insert into your favorite game.” _

You made a motion with your arms, sticking them out in a soundless form of exasperation.

“You have a lot to say for someone that caught a cold after only one day of coming back to school.”

_“Logical fallacy! The two are unrelated!”_

“Tch.”

 _“Aw- don’t be too disappointed,”_ You absentmindedly patted the arm around your shoulders. _“I was forced to take an AP English exam when I was dragged to the States. I practically re-defined the meaning of Cram.”_

The arm around your shoulders tightened, and you could tell where you messed up. After all- you weren’t ‘the only one who had to study like crazy in order to survive.

_“Sorry.”_

“Stop. Just stop.” You could feel his breath from the back of your neck. “I’m not…”

You could feel his frustration in waves, activating your sense of self-preservation. By proxy getting your mind and adrenaline reeling, _“Good with words?”_

“It’s not the fact that you brought it up that pissed me off,” Kaiba continued. “It’s the fact that you know too well what it feels” _to have whether you eat or starve based on **test** results. _

You lifted your hands up again, Kaiba watching as you temporarily froze before speaking again, _“I never thought I’d hear the word ‘pissed’ come out of your mouth. In English no less.”_

“You were speaking in ASL.”

 _“I am?”_ You blinked. _“Maybe I’m more tired than I think I am.”_

“You completed a full-length video game, it’s honestly astounding how you haven’t passed out again.”

_“I took naps, obviously.”_

“Doubtful.”

_“How do you know?”_

“Your game time is over twenty-nine hours, but you have all the DLC items and stories collected, nearly half of all the 900 korok seeds and nearly all 120 shrines. It would take much longer for a complete game- but what you did would take almost all of the twenty-nine hours of gameplay.” 

You examined facts in your mind, _“A complete gameplay takes roughly 47 hours, 46 minutes and around 12 seconds. Including fully upgrading all of the armor- why would you know how long it takes?”_

“Only an incompetent President of a Corporation wouldn’t examine competitor product,” While it would make sense, your keen senses easily picked up the slight, very very small, hitch in the billionaire’s voice.

 _“You actually play video games for fun! I win the bet! Eat it Wheeler!”_ You shot your fist in the air with victory.

“You made a bet. With _Wheeler?”_ You would have suspected that the tall secret troll was annoyed if you hadn’t seen the reflection of a smirk from a glass pane in front of you.

 _“I won a favor of my choosing- and he has to stop calling you Money Bags,”_ You grin grew more sinister. “ _For an entire three months the moment I see him again, and if he slips up- I will make sure he wishes he never slips again.”_

“Considering this is Wheeler and his usual dweeb fest,” Kaiba ignored your snorting. “I doubt he’s capable of the commitment.”

 _“That’s why I enlisted the aid of one Yugi Muto,”_ Your grin turned even more sinister than before- if that was even plausible. _“And Serenity Wheeler.”_

“I don’t want to know how or when you talked to either of them.”

 _“Yugi texted. Then I contacted serenity via Yugi,”_ You explained easily. _“Doesn’t your back hurt by now?”_

“You realize this now?”

_“Apparently I’m not using my brain right now.”_

Your shoulders slumped, _“But you **are** wondering why I decided to play Breath of the Wild now instead of before-“ _

“I never asked.”

 _“You didn’t have to, sometimes the stick you have is shoved so far up that I have to rely on my observation skills to get by,”_ You shrugged. _“I could tell you were wondering about it. But your position is making my own back feel fucked up.”_

After a minute of dragging Kaiba by his suit sleeve over to the other side, you settled, facing him while still sitting to his left.

 _“Takano and Akiyama have banned me from anything work-related,”_ You signed. _“They took my notes and files too, but Yokozawa put Akiyama on a mandatory vacation,”_ You pursed your lips. _“I think it has something to do with my Dad, he asked me for details a couple of days ago when we talked.”_

“Did you tell him anything?”

 _“Just how to find him- the Marukawa publishing company have always been…involved with its employees. Not to mention the situation with Misaki Takahashi and Usami Akihiko- well Takahashi-kun and the Usami Clan in general- there’s a lot of drama and…well- the sheer magnetism that comes with Takahashi-kun and the Usamis but that’s really weird even for me,”_ You briefly paused your signing. _“Akiyama has always been an ass, but he’s never outright banned me from working. Coming into the office yes, but not a straight up ‘don’t do anything that can be considered work’ ban.”_

You watched as Kaiba scoffed, “Any sane person would ban you from work after going through the psychological trauma of watching someone gets shot.”

You shook your head, _“This is different Seto- Akiyama knows my habits. He’s been able to pull me away from work whenever he notices that I’m doing too much- but he never outright stops me when I have work. It’s a delicate balance because he knows my inspiration can be hard to come by- but I also simultaneously have the potential to lose my collective shit if I don’t do any work. “_

You shrugged at his look, _“You’re guilty of it too- the difference is that you distract me from the fact I’m not working instead of the guilt of letting time pass eating me up.”_

You absentmindedly crossed your arms, _“I know that the threat of my future and independence is gone- relatively speaking, but old habits are hard to break.”_

“What did this have to do with Akiyama and your father?”

You appreciated his work around of the situation, _“It could be one colossal fuck up on one side or other.”_

You let out a breath through your nose, shoulders slumping as exhaustion reached to your bones. It had been a while since you had signed so much- but they were things Kaiba needed to know if this…thing was going to continue. Whatever _this_ was. Like the Usami family situation.

 _Especially_ the Usami family situation, everyone in the Shojo editing department was relatively tame compared to _that._

You didn’t even notice your progressive lean as you slumped against Kaiba and slept.

If he let you mauver the conversation from the original point, Kaiba would't point it out yet. 

* * *

By the next afternoon, you were still on Kaiba, adjusted so your head rested against his chest, but still on Kaiba. His hand carefully typing on his phone responding to emails while the other kept you on the coach.

You felt bad, but you also didn’t.

Grasping blindly to where you were pretty sure your phone remained, tucked away into the pocket of your sweatpants, you pulled it out. The glaring twelve messages of drunken mess of typing.

You keened in concern, you weren’t sure how but it came out as a gruff squeak of a noise. Your mouth moving in silence.

“What is it?”

You showed Kaiba your phone, twenty four messages in total. Both written like the person either had severe dyslexia or was heavily hitting the alcohol.

One set of a dozen were from Akiyama, the other came from a Haku. 

Also known as your father.

 _Uh oh,_ your mind rang.

* * *

A/n: //Maniacly laughing// I'm tired. AP English Exam is tomorrow. Wish me luck, but this was a long time coming (writers block is the fucking worst) 

**Dedications To:**

**_Leaf-Ripper:_ ** _Interesting, I certainly hope that the condition doesn't impede your day-to-day life. Thanks for reading once again!_

**_Hibiscus Mist:_ ** _//Laughs// honestly I can see how that works out. Thanks for reading as always!_

**_To Reader:_ ** _Thanks for reading, and have a good morning/ afternoon/evening/night!_

_Sorry if it's a little short, I'm just really tired and I wanted to post this before I eventually crashed and took a nap._

 


	14. The Fifteenth in Which Troubles and Realizations are Made

Chapter 14, The Fifteenth in Which Troubles and Realizations are Made

* * *

 

You looked incredulously at your wincing father _and_ your editor. Naked. In your father’s bedroom as he and you’re carrier had often slept in different bedrooms when he _was_ in the house.  

Your arms were crossed, alone as you had hastily sent Seto off to do work. Assuring him that you were fine and you could handle it. Though you were starting to doubt that claim as a headache began forming in the back of your mind.

_I can’t believe I live in a romance story,_ You thought to yourself as you switched your stare from your father back to Akiyama. _Seriously, what even is my life._

_“So,”_ You signed, trailing off and frankly, at a bit of a loss on what to do. The situation was just strange enough that you were _very_ much confused on what to do. You’d take dueling with Seto, smirking and all. Your expression was carefully blank, _“are you two…together?”_

Akiyama seemed to color and flinch, “No.”

You watched your father’s expression harden, a sign that he was hurt actually. Something you had taken notice when you decided that learning other people’s expressions was beneficial in the long wrong. No matter how little you actually did see of your father during childhood. Admittedly, you grew sort of fond when it happened considering you did the exact same thing.

_“Stop,”_ You signed at Akiyama. Silently seething at the blank expression, some sort of protective instinct rearing its head, _“you’re too defensive to answer that properly_.”

You wanted to text Yugi, Ra, he was better than you when it came to emotions and such. You would have texted Seto- if Seto wasn’t as emotionally constipated as you were. If not even _more_ so. (Elevator. To _space._ )

_“Did you guys at least talk about stuff before you both decided the bottle was better?”_ You signed. Casting your eyes on both men at their guilty faces.

_“Then you need to talk,”_ You signed, expression and movements firm. _“Talking is the backbone of any decent relationship.”_ You watched their expressions flounder before continuing above (metaphorically) their beginning protests, _“Romantic or otherwise.”_

You waved at them as you made your way out, walking backwards as you continued to sign, _“This is an issue between the two of you. You’re both adults. I’m going to lock this door for half an hour, and I’ll have Mihiko unlock it once those thirty minutes are up. I expect you to have a very long and very revealing conversation about yourselves, the past, and etcetera. I’m going out, don’t expect me back.”_

You ignored their shouts of protest as they tried to scramble themselves out of the bed and attempt to keep their decency given their lack of clothing. You locked them in regardless. It wasn’t as if you left them without basic necessities, you knew for a fact that your father’s bedroom had a connecting bathroom and you had left breakfast on a tray in your father’s desk.

* * *

Akiyama stiffened, scowling and turning to the man next to him. Naked as the day humans are born and sporting impressive bruises. Face carefully blank.

Akiyama hated it when he did that, even in high school. He never could tell what he was feeling, not even if he was pissed at him or something. His stupid ass writer did it too- and it was always lead to something disastrous. But as much as he wanted to interfere, he just couldn’t tell how to _fix it_ because it wouldn’t show a _damn thing._

“I’m sure Mihiko will come at the allotted time,” Haku said, voice flat. The tone, or rather, lack thereof made Akiyama flinch his head away. “Please bear with it until then.”

Akiyama just bit his lip, guilt bearing down on him like a giant pillar.

* * *

As you walked out of the hall, waving a hello to Mihiko while pointing out the chair currently wedged under the door knob and made your merry way out. Mihiko was the former head maid before bag let her go after finding out she was making your life easier. Joke’s on that bag, you just called her back as soon as she left and sent Mihiko on paid vacation whenever the bag would come back. Hacking into airport systems to see used passports wasn’t very difficult.

You checked your phone, raising an eyebrow at the article that popped up.

It seems that the issues never ended, you mused, texting Jae that you needed to head to Kaiba Corp’s main building.

* * *

You cheerily waved at people as you walked up to the elevator, sliding your keycard into the elevator and leaning against the solid metal. Truthfully, you had never gone to Kaiba Corp on your own before, but asking Mokuba for an access card before he left for school had been easy. Actually, the boy had been grinning widely as he told you Seto had one made for you after the first dinner. Which had since been raised up to an all-access pass.

You were going to ignore the end part of that, the implications alone would drive you nuts.  

You bit the inside of your cheek absent-mindedly as the elevator continued its way up, mind wandering long enough that you had to blink yourself back to the present as the elevator parted for your arrival.

You mindlessly waved to the secretary, noting her statement of how _“Mr. Kaiba’s in his office”_ as you walked through the double doors. Dramatic asshole. Seriously- what person needs _two doors_ for the entrance to their _office?_

“Either get rid of this within twenty-four hours or _find yourself another job,” oooh,_ that  sounded like pissed off Kaiba #543-B, most definitely an indicator of Kaiba’s poor mood if anything considering the way his eyes were slanted and his body stood stiff and imposing. Regardless, you had to say you were mildly amused.

Kaiba was facing towards the window, barking into a phone before clicking it off (which was a bit of a shame, a bit lacking in drama but you would let it pass).

“I _thought_ ,” Kaiba growled, and _holy shit,_ “I made it _clear_ I wasn’t to be disturbed-“

You smiled as he paused mid-turn, wiggling your fingers in greeting.

_“Hi,”_ You signed.

All the tension in Kaiba’s shoulders seem to seep out before tensing again, “These ridiculous news articles-“

_“Are obviously salacious lies,”_ You signed, cutting him off. _“Have to say though, you two would make for a fetching couple. Serenity Wheeler is beautiful.”_

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, “Even if I was strong-armed, I wouldn’t leave you.”

You felt your own worry seep away at that, which, _huh, “I know. Don’t worry about it. Who’s the unfortunate one who got the picture?”_

The article posted online had been a speculative one concerning Kaiba and his _“potential girlfriend?”_ which had been rather ridiculous since the two were just standing next to each other. _Seriously?_ Then again- there have been lesser situations in the name of shipping amongst fandom members.

Regardless, you frowned as your phone vibrated with a text message.

Signaling a pause to Kaiba, you opened your phone to find Akiyama had texted.

_I’m going to kill him._

You felt mental eyebrow rise, thumb flying. You hoped it wasn’t your father, in that case, you were going to have to make sure Akiyama disappeared quietly. Which was going to be a pain emotionally and physically.

_Kill who?_

There wasn’t even a pause before Akiyama responded, _Kaiba._

You rolled your eyes, thumbs flying once again, _You know better- don’t be stupid. He didn’t do anything. Talk to my Dad._

“ _Akiyama,”_ You signed one-handed, slipping your phone back into your pocket. _“He’s being a dumbass.”_

“I assume the situation wasn’t to perturbing,” Kaiba said dryly.

You shrugged, _“They had sex and now they’re both freaking out. I’m not sure what happened after I locked them in a room together for half an hour but I’m hoping they talked. Knowing my editor’s stubbornness- they probably just boded in silence.”_

Kaiba seemed to search your expression before, you imagined he was seeing the way your eyes narrowed and showed your eye bags more, your eyelids falling over to indicate your tiredness instead of your irritability, “You locked them. In a room.”

_“Well, what else was I supposed to do? Force them to hold hands?”_ You added a mild snort in addition, _“They’re both stubborn. I’ll just have to lock them in a closet sometime. Stage a kidnapping. I don’t know- but I need them to talk, last time Akiyama was like this- the fucker overworked. So I need this fixed and quickly.”_

“Sounds hypocritical.”

_“I overworked from the stress of abuse. Not from the stress of a love life that was ruined by a greedy shit stain.”_ You waved off his oncoming comment, _“You’re diverting anyway- don’t think I missed the way you tensed up. Did you actually expect me to believe you’d be two-timing without me knowing?”_

“That isn’t what-“

_“ **It is** what you were thinking. I’ve got almost 700 versions of your expression memorized by now, and they’re alphabetized to boot, so you’re not getting away with this shit,” _ You gave Kaiba a lopsided smile. _“I trust you. So I know it wasn’t true. Simple as that.”_

Kaiba seemed to struggle with that before you decided to roll your eyes again, _“Seriously. It’s fine. You’re not the type of person who would go behind people’s backs. If you were going to start a different relationship you’d told me we we’re over. Either to my face, call, or text. You’re many things Seto, but you don’t do things half-assed. Now stop using me to feed your already huge ego.”_

Kaiba made a smirk, and you didn’t comment if it seemed a little more brittle than usual.

_Honestly._

* * *

Akiyama took a deep breath as he set his phone down, making his decision before he could second guess it as he quickly launched himself over Haku. Ignoring the way Haku seemed not even be surprised.

“Alright,” Akiyama huffed. “Just- listen while I talk.”

* * *

_Well,_ you thought to yourself as you stared at the tall room made up of bricks. Large ones- _Egyptian_ ones. _This is strange._

“I apologize.”

You turned towards the voice that just spoke, a man about Yugi’s height with the same hair (how _that_ possible you didn’t know) smiled.

Regaled in golden jewelry and wearing an impressive cape that blew in a wind that did not exist- you realized that while this certainly wasn’t reality- this didn’t exactly feel like a dream either.

“You must be terribly confused,” Said the not-Yugi, though in a deeper voice. Your mind vaguely pieced together that this must be-

_“Pharaoh,”_ You thought, loudly.

“Indeed,” He said, smile more amused than anything. Which- again, _weird._ Regardless, this seemed to be one of the few things in your life that actually made some kind of sense. A dead pharaoh coming to talk to you in your dreams. _Definitely_ more sense than your editor turning out to be your father’s old flame back in high school.

You tried not to think too hard about it, if you did- it would just give you a migraine.

“It’s rather rude,” He said, _Atem,_ your mind answered. Vaguely recalling Yugi’s retellings (through a sobbing mess actually the boy needed some _serious_ therapy). “To intrude in one’s dreams like this. But I wanted to thank you personally.”

You frowned, _“For what? I didn’t exactly save the world. Uh- your grace.”_

Atem seemed to shift his smile into something more forlorn, which _ouch,_ “No. But you saved _my world._ My friends- and admittedly, my dearest friend.”

_“Yugi?”_ You shrugged. _“That was no problem. He’s kind, the least I could do was listen when he actually managed to push himself into talking about his trauma.”_

The Pharaoh seemed to actually flinch at that, which- oh _ouch._ Trauma caused by _his_ presence in Yugi’s body. Yeah, you wouldn’t have felt good at _all_ either knowing that _._

“Yes,” Atem said, steadying himself with a willpower you imagined only a king could possess. Which- Kaiba was a king, in his own way. “As well as Kaiba. Even after our final battle, when he finally beat me- he seemed…lost.”

That, you did _not_ know. _“He seemed fine- but then again, I probably wasn’t paying much attention in the beginning. Had my own issues, you know?”_

“Yes,” Atem nodded. “I’m aware. Though admittedly, it is impressive that you’ve gone so far on your own. You seem to be familiar to me- even if we have never met. Are you aware if your family has any Egyptian origins?”

You shook your head, _“None that I’m aware off. I’m just a random mute person. Maybe it’s my attitude. Yugi says sometimes I remind him of Kaiba.”_

“Perhaps,” Atem’s mysterious, ever-changing smile seemed to grow fond. “You carry yourself similarly- despite your outside expressions being vastly different.”

_“He told you to get a new hobby besides saving the world,”_ You recalled. _“If that’s not the mark of sarcastic asshole- I don’t know **what** is.” _

“I don’t believe you _are_ one.”

_“He’s mellowed me out,”_ You admitted. _“it’s exhausting being an angsty teenager.”_

“I wouldn’t be able to recall,” He said, clearly amused. His back was relaxed, slumping. “However, I must disagree. You have _both_ mellowed out each other. It’s rather refreshing- seeing Kaiba smile rather than smirking.”

_“You **see** that?” _

“I’m a dead pharaoh. I see a lot of things. He does it when he believes he’s alone.”

_“You know what this means don’t you?”_

“Oh?”

_“I need to hack into the security systems so I can get a picture. Oh my **Ra.** I need a fucking picture. For evidence. For Yugi to admire and **frame**.” _

“I’m sure you’ll get it,” For a moment, Atem reverted back to what you suspected was the pharaoh he was when he was alive. Prim. Assured of himself. Back straightening and sight cutting through everyone, looking into their very soul. “But our time is shortening. And I would like to give you my expressed thanks.”

Even as the room darkened, Atem continued, “Yugi has guided me out of the darkness that consumed me before we met. He has moved me past looking to death as punishment for others. I owe him for guiding me back to the man I was. For you to help him pass the many evils we have faced-I do not believe my simple thanks is enough. And for being able to look over Kaiba’s defenses, as most cannot do what you have done. Most would not even think to forgive him for his brash decisions. But it is all I have to offer.”

_“Your previous expressions of thanks is payment enough,_ ” You mused, at this point, you were starting to see why he and Kaiba were such rivals. They were ridiculously similar, practically the same person. While the Pharaoh may have said that you and Kaiba had similar dispositions- they were just that, similar. Stemmed from similar upbringings with different expressions. But the way shoulders are leaned back, the guilt carried? The way Atem wields power and words? Those were not just similarities, they were mirrored images to a certain tall blue-eyed CEO. Despite the fact that Kaiba may have been by all means an asshole, they were like cousins that competed against each other. Trying to win one over the other but doing it the same way.

You had thought long about how Yugi described Kaiba, and you found one thing interesting.

Kaiba treated Yugi and Atem differently. As insignificant as this may be, you had the impression that none of the others saw much difference between the two, a consequence of sharing a body you had hypothesized. But that time Yugi and Kaiba were challenged by Aigami? Yugi had described a Kaiba vastly different than that retold. You had written it off as development, perhaps Kaiba had just changed as a result of time and new experiences. But no, now that you’ve met both Atem and Seto- you could only attribute the similarities the two shared. They were a great many- but the most common thing was the careful arrangement of the pieces. They knew how to react to situations. It was a little unnerving- even _you_ couldn’t react and act the same way these two seemed to. You were a writer, most of your mentality was spent in silence and contemplating every possible situation. But these two- they did it instantaneously. They evaluated their situation and acted accordingly. They may show it differently, but they were the _same._ Because while you may have memorized Kaiba’s expressions- you never based it on his face. The man was too good for that. You based it on his body, but most of all his eyes. Eyes could hide very little when it comes to emotion, as cheesy at it sounded. But most people didn’t notice the slight twitch of movement, the way invisible walls seem to build behind irises. Yugi was expressive, he was honest, it’s why you took a liking to him. But both Atem and Kaiba talked through their eyes and their bodies.

And you spent a lot of time looking at Kaiba’s body language, it was one of the few ways you could see what others cannot. It’s why-

You breathed in sharply.

It’s why believed him so easily. How you knew his honesty, his guilt, the slight stiffness of his shoulders when he felt guilty. The fond slant of his eyes when he was amused or happy. The way he held himself straighter when he was being challenged in a way he didn’t like. The way his eyelids slanted down a little when he was pissed, the stiffer the body, the angrier he was. The way you knew that if Kaiba squared his shoulders and looked like he was looking past you, his pupils just slightly smaller than it was when he was focused on what was in front of him, that he was feeling guilty. The changes were minute- but unconsciously- because you really didn’t have the time to contemplate this before, you had picked up on it. The skill you had silently cultivated for your own benefit bearing fruit in the form of this…analysis.

Even if your original intention was to study how to hide your own feelings from everyone else, this wasn’t quite what it was, it wasn’t something for you to keep in mind as you carefully tiptoed around him. It wasn’t because you wanted something from him. It wasn’t because you were curious about him, not really.

You had just- just been watching him, and noting differences when they happened. Most of the time you weren’t even thinking.

“You seemed to have made a realization.”

_“Understatement,”_ You replied weakly. _“It’s a fucking revelation.”_

Atem smiled, you watched his body relaxing into ease. Shoulder’s evening in perfect parallel while his eyes softened. Almost exactly as Kaiba would have when he was satisfied and upright. Mouth lifted on both corners instead of just the one.

“Tell them I said hello.”

* * *

Akiyama’s voice was ruff by the end of it, honestly, he also kind of felt tears dripping down his face. His arms were also straining from exhaustion.

Haku himself had broken his expressionless mask midway through his speech when he protested about Akiyama’s guilt. Just- staring at Akiyama in shock if he would guess.

Haku’s hand reached up to brush away the tears, expression fond.

“Idiot,” He grumbled.

Haku laughed, it was a bell-like thing that Akiyama hadn’t heard since _High School,_ before the ass went up and disappeared on him without saying anything.

“Yeah, I guess we both kind of are.”

For the first time in a long time, Akiyama felt like he was going to be more than content with life.

* * *

You woke up with Kaiba in your face, well, he was looking down on you. A blank expression on his features- but his blue eyes were contemplative. Even as your head seemed to be resting on his thighs, his hands resting against the back of the couch and while the other seemed to be hovering over your head. You concluded that he had moved his hand after you seemed to stir, Seto had a habit of petting hair. A skill that was developed when Mokuba was young, as you had seen Kaiba do it in private when Mokuba came with a problem or a success.

“You were making expressions in your sleep,” He stated matter-of-factly.

You grunted, a crack of your voice box extended the sound slightly.

You lifted your hands, _“Atem says hello.”_

Kaiba stiffened, you could even feel his thighs tensing under you, “You met.”

_“He just wanted to thank me,” You continued. “For helping you and Yugi. I don’t really know why- you and Atem are both stupid. And similar. So similar. You don’t even know. Seriously, the stuff I do for you and Yugi doesn’t take blood, sweat, and tears.”_

“Tch,” Seto’s eyes narrowed, but his expression was vulnerable. Like he was holding himself together by falling back on old habits. His expression ghosting into a sneer that didn’t actually want to form. “I expected you to be tired, not brain dead.”

You smiled again, you weren’t sure what was in your expression, you hadn’t felt this arrangement of your face like this before. You don’t think you’ve even seen what it. Whatever it was, it made Seto soften, dropping his fake sneer.

You moved yourself, arranging yourself to sit on his lap. Your legs folding next to you as you rested your hands resting behind his neck. His own hands had moved to rest against your mid-lower back. A part you hadn’t let anyone near, not even Yugi.

There wasn’t any talk, for a moment, it was just an easy silence. You watching his eyes as you stayed seated.  

You tilted your head forward, a slight slant. An agreement to a silent question that could only be seen, not heard.

Seto moved.

You had never kissed anyone before, not beyond quick pecks, and even those had only been with Kaiba. But you imagined that this is what people did usually. You weren’t sure how to move, but he seemed to know what he was doing at least. For a moment, you forgot to breathe. Growing lightheaded before you vaguely remembered your nose as a possible solution to your breathing problem, pulling away and resting your forehead against his. Chest heaving in labored breaths.

It was strange a feeling, bubbling at your chest in such a way that you almost didn’t recognize it. From little sign of confusion on Seto’s face, he was feeling the same. It was different from the usual content that you felt, content with the life you lived. Content of your survival. Frankly, you hadn’t known that it was _content_ until now.

You were happy.

You were…actually. Honestly. Happy.

You huffed at the realization, a quick release of breath that lead you to closing the distance with Seto again, resting your forehead on his as you felt tears. Honest to fuck **_happy_** _tears_ slide down your closed eyes. You partially expected him to freak out at what only could be described as a display of overwhelming emotion. Though he seemed to be just as unnerved- or just shocked. Considering that he just tightened his hold.

* * *

A/n:  _Admittedly, this is late as **hell.** But I'm in summer vacation, (well, it was a month ago but I had summer school to knock out one of my classes that I needed to graduate) so now I'm just...here. Hello. _

_Also- Atem also wanted to be squeezed in here. He had a good thing going so I let him._

_Kaiba's glaring at me from across the room- so. You guys can't thank him for guilting me into getting this done faster. I kind of stopped sort of midway- it was probably 1/16th of the way done before the finals for the year started and just barely got done now- so sorry about that. Admittedly, next chapter will probably be the last. Since I can't really think of a better segway to the ending like this. Technically speaking, this is an ending- but no, next chapter will be the ending. The ending that's been planned since I first started this shindig. I've actually had a couple ideas for a new insert- but considering I've actually been working on a teen wolf fic (kind of my really really personal project, it has a prominent OC so once I'm finished with it I'll probably just stick it on AO3 all in all when it's done, or not. Idk. As of right now it's a google doc that I've only shared with a friend from school who's also into teen wolf ((sterek specifically))). But yeah. I'm kind of satisfied with how this chapter turned out regardless._

_Has anyone watched/read Gakuen Babysitter by the way? I don't really have a plan to write a fic or anything but can we please discuss how Ryuichi has chemistry with fucking **everyone** in that anime/manga? Please? No one else I know personally is into it and I really need to express just how good an everyone x Ryuichi story would be. Romantic and/or platonic. Or Hayato, that would be great too. Hayato shooting down everyone because Ryuichi is already with him. That would be fucking awesome. Yell at me on tumblr about it please. Just- please. Abraxos-the-phantom is my username for those who would like to indulge me- even tho I mainly reblog and don't post anything. Would you like me to do stuff? I could probably do short one-shots on there if you guys send me requests. Especially since I'm on summer vacation. Author and Character(s) is the main blog. _

_**Dedications to:**  
_

**_Leaf-Ripper:_ ** _AHAHAHHAHA, YEAH. ABOUT THAT- Well, regardless, thanks for reading! The next chapter is now out, with the final on the way. (Don't worry- there will be another one up soon enough)_

**_Cocomalt:_ ** _Dude, my dream room would be a combo-game-computer-art-library. And yeah, Joey ain't bad, but Reader is...reader. I think this one is particularly stingy about insults towards Kaiba- despite it being Kaiba. And YES THAT CAREFULNESS WAS ACTUALLY SOMETHING I'VE BEEN TRYING TO IMPLANT because they're both awkward beans. Hopefully, it's obvious how easier it is for them to communicate when **words** aren't involved. But idk how well I did with that. So- //shrug// AP exam was kind of ridiculous. It was a mutual agreement between all three AP English classes. There are memes. Thankfully, finals weren't nearly as bad. Except for math. My dislike for math will probably never change. And considering my grades were my usual (A's and B's- cause i'm one paranoid asshole) I'd say I did pretty well for hell year (Junior year). Enough of my rambling, thanks for reading!_

**_HibiscusMist:_ ** _He's getting better at it, kicking the sads it is. But now it's reader's turn. DISPELL DEM DOUBT. Hope you start to find some way to be happy/content at work! Thanks for taking the time to read!_

**_Ririchiyo:_ ** _AND IT HAS BEEN UPDATED. THANK YOU FOR READING! HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER AS WELL!_

_**You the reader:** Thank you for reading! Have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night!  
_

 

 


	15. The Sixteenth Ties Loose Ends

Chapter 15, The Sixteenth Ties Loose Ends

* * *

 

_Five Years Later_

You violently kicked at the desk in triumph, whooping in the air as you threw both fists up. Your finger slightly stinging from slamming the mouse harshly.

Behind you, the printer was humming with work. Spitting out paper as fast as it was able to print the words.

You were _done._

 _Fuck yeah,_ you thought to yourself. Looking at the clock that blearily read three in the morning. It was a pretty close call considering you had just finished the third installment of the partnering series to Knights of Atlantis. Which held rights and partnerships with both Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions and thus- created a story based on the origins of Yu-Gi-Oh.

It helped that Yugi was full and willing to let you reiterate some of his story- actually, he more or less forced you to put more ‘actual events’ rather than whatever you had thought to make up at the time. You at first thought it was cheating- but after getting dream haunted by Atem and scolded by Seto- you had relented.

In exchange, you had thanked Yugi and his Grandfather’s card shop for being references and allowing you to browse the different cards. You could hardly go there yourself considering the shop had a decent amount of customers on the daily, regardless, you felt good.

You sighed, getting up to quickly pick up all the paper and sticking it in a manila envelope. Slapping a post-it note prewritten with _Give to Grump Dad._

It had been a crazy past five years, and granted- the grump Akiyama hadn’t manage to actually _use_ the ring he’s been holding onto for the past month- but you had hope that he would get over himself. If not- you had plans. Most of which you were hoping you wouldn’t actually have to use.

Because as much as you didn’t want to, a lot of them involved kidnapping. The level of stubbornness Akiyama possessed, unfortunately, lead to that solution being the most effective- it took almost two years before the man got it together and asked your dad out on a date. You knew a relationship like theirs needed time but _geeze._

You shook your head out of those thoughts, it couldn’t be helped. There are certain matters in these that shouldn’t be rushed.

It never failed to frustrate though, watching Akiyama get angry when you and your father were hanging out and said father figure was getting flirted with by employees- that had been both amusing and subtly terrifying. Damage control had been a pain.

To be fair to the librarian, he didn’t know your father- and didn’t know Akiyama.

Filing the memory back where it belonged, you took a glance at the clock calendar hovering on a nearby screen.

Since moving into the Kaiba mansion, the adjustment period was a little strange after the entire… _incidents_ that occurred. For one, once you had successfully moved into a room that was primarily where you worked and generally where you fucked around- Kaiba had taken your laptop and replaced it. With a three monitor set up and Kaiba Corp top of the line computer system. The computer itself already had your preferred system applications, setting preferences, your word documents, though some things were changed. For example, the computer itself was _much_ faster than your laptop had been, and it had been strange to find one of the latest _Paint tool Sai_ downloaded onto the computer. After further scrounging around the ridiculously huge but oddly well-camouflaged desk, you found a top of the line, Kaiba Corp custom-made touchscreen drawing tablet- which- _what?_ After your initial bewilderment at the fact that Kaiba Corp apparently used its _own_ freaking tech when it came to game creation, it also meant that the reason it was even in the stinking office in the first place was he snooped through your files. You were damn sure not even _Akiyama_ knew that you drew as a side hobby. By all means, you weren’t a _professional_ but it helped in the creative process when you wanted to make characters. Not to mention keep their backstories organized because _sheesh._ Digitizing it was an extra precaution.

Regardless of this _snooping shit_ business, the most mortifying had been the discovery of how all your bookmarks had been transferred. You sincerely doubted Kaiba trusted moving your files to the computer system to anyone but himself and maybe Mokuba, the latter of which was impossible since the kid was _busy as hell_ so that meant Kaiba _saw_ the stupid ass folder you had that was simply labeled _Kaiba._

Your fanfiction folder aside (the ability to write can only grow from the amount read) the Kaiba folder was a random ass thing you put together as soon as you discovered yourself reading random blogs about the analyzation of Kaiba’s character. You had even wrote anonymously and defended the man in some points, especially when it came to his dueling style. It was how you met the United States World Champ duelist, and there was some especially charming fanfictions dedicated to the billionaire giraffe. (Some of which were pretty accurate, you weren’t gonna lie, this was prevalent in the ones that characterized Kaiba as a asshole with a difficulty in expressing himself intimately) And the fan art. Oh _fuck_ he probably saw the fan art.

You were a little afraid to _look_ at Kaiba after that.

And you were perfectly justified in it too, as soon as you joined him for dinner with a little nudging from Roland, Kaiba took one look at you and smirked before returning to his stupid steak.

You remembered feeling warm before you pointedly ripped off a bite of your steak like a savage and refused to use a knife. It wasn’t as if the meat wasn’t soft enough to melt anyway.

* * *

 

After the initial week, things turned routine. You’d go with Kaiba when you had school, you’d come back with him from school or from Kaiba Corp depending on what was going on that same day. The fan club had eased up on their hostility a little upon the realization that you _really did not give two shits about what they did_ as long as they respected your space. The ones who didn’t quickly learned _why one shouldn’t piss you off_. It wasn’t as explosive as before- when you had all that pent up aggression, but you heard the one girl who set up a trap where a tub of glue would fall on you upon entering was still crying. You had gotten seriously _pissed_ at that one, not on your own behalf (because glue? _Really?)_ but due to the fact that it could have been _anyone_ and _anyone_ could have gotten hurt.

The semester had been uneventful, you finally got to meet Yugi’s friends and Joey actually managed not to call Kaiba “money bags” within the allotted time. You treated him to a meal, no strings attached, since positive reinforcement was a proven technique for behavioral improvement. If it worked on Kaiba, it worked on _anyone._ Then there had been the section where Téa had tried to get everyone to go to _Prom_ which you were strongly against. You were willing to deal with High School- you weren’t going to go to _Prom,_ especially without Kaiba to make you less bored. Kaiba had tricked you into going with him and smirked all evening when you realized that you were in the prom venue and had promptly, got mad.

In hindsight, you should have known that Kaiba wouldn’t have randomly donated money so that the Prom venue would be nothing less than the best. It was in the tallest tower in _Domino_.

Despite the awkwardness at showing up with Kaiba, you had instantly ditched him for the balcony. It wasn’t necessarily malicious, but the sudden attention had caught you off guard and you needed to quickly escape before you had a panic attack right then and there. A byproduct of needing to maintain a certain physical expression in any given situation. The sheer number of stares you were receiving due to Kaiba’s especial lack of tolerance towards these events made the stares feel more physical than they could have possibly been. Which in turn intensified the experience and made you even _more_ uncomfortable.

That being said, you settled into the usual routine when you felt overwhelmed, scooting out of the view of the window into the corner of the balcony. Close enough to be considered relatively safe, but far enough away that no one would be able to see you. After the fifth time you accompanied Kaiba to one of his party shin-digs, you had practically perfected being a wallflower.

Vaguely, you wondered why Domino High had decided on performing a decidedly American tradition of the _Prom._ Most Japanese schools lacked the tradition of having any sort of _dance_ at the end of the school year. Which brought up the question as to why _this_ dance existed. Though admittedly it was well past the actual semester- and you had already graduated. Near top of the class- just slightly under Kaiba. Though in English and literature- you had beaten him.

College wasn’t exactly much of an option you were planning to have considering you already had a job with steady income, and technology was in such a state that you didn’t even _need_ to be on campus to undertake graduate courses. Besides the fact that you were already taking advanced classes, you just…didn’t hold a need for it.

You had felt Kaiba show up beside you, a reassuring pressure on your side as the both of you starred out into the nightlife of Domino City. Jostling you out of your thoughts and allowing you to focus on the present. You had been content with the silence, only leaning to rest your head against his shoulder as the both of you ignored the chaos inside the building.

After an hour had passed, the two of you ditched Prom in favor of hiding out in the bookstore you had taken him to almost months ago.

* * *

The memory, while old was still a good one. You felt yourself smiling as you thought about it, despite the fact that you had coerced him into buying Tiger and Bunny art books for you. Well- technically you had been determined to buy it yourself _while_ he was there- but he took the books from your hands before you could greet Yukina while he was doing register. The cheeky bastard.

For as earnest as the college student was, Yukina had a shit eating grin (well, it was a smile- complete with some ridiculous sparkles and you had _no idea_ where the hell they came from) as he took Kaiba’s card. You had liked Yukina, the guy seemed nice and he made Kisa happy. Now- you were starting to see why Kisa always seemed red when the two of you would come into the bookstore together to see some of the manga his department was working on. The man was worse than the Masayoshi was than with Hidenori, and the man regularly dresses up as a _superhero._

Though, you supposed no one could be as bad as Masayoshi. If Hidenori was to be believed, said superhero costume wearing delightful _moron_ proposed while _naked_ and defending a sociopathic middle-schooler from getting killed.

If your life was crazy, you didn’t want to imagine Hidenori’s, the guy’s got some serious _strangeness_ in his life. You felt equal parts glad and horrified for the police officer who had randomly vented out his frustrations towards you while waiting for the bus.

Seriously- his case was _fascinating._ Though from the sound of things, the man was more frustratingly fond rather than angry. To think the friendship had started all because someone had taken your umbrella by accident, Masayoshi riding in to the rescue in full Samurai Flamenco glory with Hidenori yelling after him.

You hadn’t known whether you should be amused or mildly alarmed. Regardless, Hidenori had explained it pretty well (and it seemed pretty routine actually) and thus the tentative friendship had been born. You had thought that would top off your ridiculous friendless after that moment. A policeman and a man who dressed up as a superhero, _nothing_ was supposed to beat that.

Then came billionaire, genius, philanthropist and dragon loving Seto _fucking_ Kaiba.

You had snorted in behind him at the thought, which drew some looks but you didn’t mind too much.

Regardless, it was a good night that night.

* * *

Things between yourself and Kaiba were the same as it was before. In truth- the two of you hardly did “couple-y” things. None of you had the reference to know what the hell a “couple-y” thing was. Besides that- the combination of the movie development and Kaiba’s future prospects for the company- neither of you had any time for anything else other than sleeping next to each other.

Neither of you minded either.

Oh- there would be moments. Moments where you would come up to hand over Kaiba some lunch when you knew he had been working for more than twelve hours and see some sort of woman (or that one man- on one memorial occasion) propped up with their more… _seductive_ of assets in an attempt.

Because you were a little shit that just happened to trust Kaiba, you kept quiet and watched until Kaiba yelled for the guards to take- and you quote- “to throw this insignificant _trash_ out of my building”. Then he would notice you- yell at you about why you didn’t interfere- then take your food and eat it in front of you as an apology. All while you were trying (but failing) to conceal your amusement for the whole damn thing. Except for that one aggressive lady that managed to get here- get this- through the _ventilation system._ You had interfered purely because you kinda _feared_ for Kaiba’s safety despite his claims that he was perfectly capable of handling himself. Which you believed- but somethings don’t feel right unless it’s done first-hand.

It ended with a lot of money being passed around to keep things hush, which got _worse_ when you found out that the woman was able to do such a thing and damn near _sexually assaulted_ Kaiba because some asshole with a grudge wanted to get even.

Said asshole is now sleeping with the fishes- and Kaiba is none the wiser. You planned to keep it that way. You were pretty sure Kaiba had his suspicions but preferred to keep himself in the dark about it since you clearly weren’t going to say anything. It was fair.

Now- you weren’t one for being jealous. Of course- the occasional wave of doubt would swarm over you and you kept looking for the one moment that Kaiba would tell you that you were done.

On one memorial occasion- you had _asked_ him if he still wanted you around and well- the next day resulted in both of you calling off for the day and you being unable to… _walk_ very well.

You…still turned red when you thought about it. It wasn’t… _perfect_ per-say but it happened and it felt good and that was that.

But with Kaiba? You hadn’t pegged him for it but it seemed that the man was the jealous _type._

The one time- the _one time_ you had decided to swallow your shit and ask Kaiba if he wanted to go around the anime district with you (figure hunting- that’s what you were doing. Not asking Kaiba out on a date- that’s ridiculous) one of the employees had flirted with you. You usually didn’t mind as long as they weren’t too pushy- so you brushed it off and continued- but Kaiba?

Kaiba glared.

Specifically- Kaiba glared **_The_** _Glare._ Glare #00001_A. The glare that is to be _avoided_ at all cost because that’s when you suddenly realize- oh _right._ This man _knowingly_ caused his colossal _asshole_ of a step-father to _jump out of his own building._ You don’t get any _hints_ more clearer than _that._ Because after that- he had dragged you out. Taken you somewhere for dinner (which had caused the entire _restaurant_ to panic the moment he walked in) gave you one hell of a kiss and told you that if you wanted a figure just tell him.

Just- literally _tell him._ No ordering online. You tried it out too, you asked him if he could possibly get the figma Gilgamesh figure from FGO since you were getting into it. That- and today was the one day of the year where you usually got yourself something that wasn’t purely essential, even though you kinda forgot why after a while. Maybe it was a ‘reward yourself’ day that you made? You weren’t sure, but he _had_ told you to tell him if you wanted something. You didn’t even know if he _heard_ and you were just gonna search online anyway. But you wanted to see if he would actually go and order it. You didn’t see him to it so you just went back home when his lunchtime was over (well- Kaiba never actually took a break so you just kinda delivered him lunch and stared at him till he gave up) and was gonna go look on your own, it was no issue. You weren’t even upset, just glad that you knew he was joking.

He came back home _earlier than he usually did._

 _With_ the figure in toe.

As astounded as you were- you manage to stutter out a thanks as he kissed your cheek and whispered something made his way into the kitchen, a bag still in hand. Leaving you gawking at the box in your hands and the sudden realization of what today actually _was._

Still- as you stood there and equal parts awe and shock. You began to laugh, delighted.

No one had ever gotten you a _gift_ for your birthday before.

“Are you just going to stand around or help me finish this cake?”

You grunted and shook yourself out of whatever daze you managed to put yourself in. Walking into the kitchen and cradling the box in your hands.

* * *

 

You smiled as you paused in your packing- because from then on- Kaiba would quietly make inquiries about what anime you were into at the moment around that month- and get you a subsequent figure or item from that anime. On one occasion- you got a signed copy of an art book from one of your favorite artists.

Admittedly- it became a bit of a competition since every time his birthday rolled around a parcel would show up on his desk with an elaborate gift. Usually Blue-Eyes themed but you did smile when you saw him hold the only sequel and actual book copy of _Knights of Atlantis_ to ever exist gently in his hands. Rubbing at the satin finish of the book cover that had a pitch black dragon tilted in front of it. The continued story of the first knight in its.

Shaking your head, you continued to shove a pants down your luggage and zipping up the hard-shell box with a satisfied _rip._ Briefly frowning as you tried to consider every _other_ thing you hadn’t thought of to bring in preparation.

Regardless, it wasn’t as if it was something you needed to worry about anyway. Duel Academy had been slated to begin official opening a week from now, and Kaiba had asked- honest to fuck _asked_ if you would come with him. Which was pretty damn rare on its own. Yugi would also be there, as well as Anguis and some other Duelists who were pretty skilled in their own right. Anguis and a couple other duelists were also coming to attend the free-for-all dueling that would happen as a special event. People who gained enough points per duel would get a chance to actually duel Yugi and Kaiba, since they were the top duelist in _world ranking._ Even Pegasus was going to join in the fun.

While you weren’t ranked internationally, you had a strong feeling in your gut that Kaiba was going to drag you into participating anyway. Probably utilizing some sort of blackmail. You were both weary and curious at how it was going to play out. But you knew at the very least- Kaiba would be able to make up for anything that you were lacking. That tended to sum up your relationship these days.

You tugged your luggage with as you made your way down the stairs, familiar halls rushing past you as you tried to hurry up. A nearby butler taking your luggage as you nodded to him in thanks. Meeting up with Kaiba in the limo.

Once inside the familiar leather you smiled at Kaiba even though he probably couldn’t see you as he looked down on his phone.

Kaiba paused looking up and putting his phone away.

You moved your hands, _“Hey.”_

“I assume you brought you’re set of clothes and just about a _dozen_ more items that is completely unnecessary for this trip?”

You scowled at him, flipping him the bird before signing, _“Not **that** much.” _

“…Right,” He said in a tone that clearly portrayed how he felt about that.

You rolled his eyes in a universal tone of ‘Whatever’, before breathing a sigh. Memories of how you met- what happened next- and next- the ups, the downs. The topsy-turvys and the ones that were just right.

It had been a good five years.

“What are you thinking about.”

You shook your head, reaching forward and dragging his hands in front of you. Opening his palms.

He rose an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything as he wordlessly gripped your hand in his.

You smiled, he did have a knack for understanding you even when you didn’t jack shit.

“So what is it?” Kaiba asked, clearly waiting for an answer.

You smiled, your lips moving and your throat vibrating more easily than it had for as long as you can remember,

“Love you.”

The look on his face was  ** _so worth it._**

* * *

A/n:  _And this- this is the end. (I updated this purposely so it's on my birthday so yay happy birthday to me~_

_I don't have much to say. But it's been fun- especially with Kaiba glaring at me from where I usually work. So, yeah. That is...all I have to say._

_This chapter kinda has a lot of sugar- I hope I didn't rot anyone's teeth. Or give anyone diabetes._

_**Dianasaurus94:** AND I'M BACK. FIGURES HAH. I don't worry, I'm sure I'll come back with...something. Not sure- but something. Maybe Kaiba- maybe with one of my older ocs. Who knows. (LIke- way old- back when Black Butler was the only anime I really wrote anything for- which was a really heckin' long time ago) ANyWAY! Hope you enjoyed~ Hopefully you get more stuff on that reading list of yours //winks//_

**_HibiscusMist:_ ** _Honestly- yeah. Yeah he would. Hope you enjoyed this one last chapter~ As well as everything else~_

**_7Uknown7:_ ** _Yes. Yes he is. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Hope you enjoyed this story as well~_

**_Leaf-Ripper:_ ** _AND SO THE CONCLUSION. Hope you enjoyed the story~_

**_You the Reader:_ ** _THANKS FOR READING THIS STORY, AND HAVE A FANTASTIC MORNING/DAY/AFTERNOON/EVENING/NIGHT!_

 


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